


The Life After

by round_robin



Category: Angel: the Series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Jossverse
Genre: Angel/Spike - Freeform, F/M, Future Fic, M/M, Post: s05e22 Not Fade Away, old fic reposting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-05
Updated: 2012-07-08
Packaged: 2017-11-09 05:12:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 47,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/451699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/round_robin/pseuds/round_robin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five hundred years after the Earth is destroyed, Angel is convinced he is the last vampire left in the Universe. Imagine his surprise when Spike shows up again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is an older work from livejournal (back when I had an account there). I've gone through and edited a bit, but I didn't do much to it. Remember that I wrote this a few years ago, so it's not up to my current standards, and now I'm just reposting it to have it up somewhere. If you've seen it before, yay, if you haven't, that's cool too. I hope everyone enjoys. :)
> 
> Disclaimer: I'm making no money, it all belongs to Joss.

LA, 2004

 

The battle hadn’t lasted as long as they thought it would, but then again, Angel and Spike were pretty sure they wouldn’t even live to see the end of it. They thought that they would fall valiantly after being rushed by thousands of demons; even if they managed to make it through the night, the sunrise would surely kill them. And they were okay with that, as long as they went out fighting, Spike and Angel couldn’t care less about their deaths.

The demons came and they fought. Gunn fell first and as he laid there bleeding, Illyria rushed to protect him, beating back any demon that dared to come near. Angel just assumed that whatever part of the demon goddess that was still Fred was urging her to protect him, or maybe it was Illyria herself, trying to save Wesley’s best friend. Angel didn’t have much time to think about it as the demons just kept coming.

It didn’t really matter, anyways; Illyria fell soon after and it was just Spike and Angel left protecting the city from all sorts of unholy Hell beset upon them by Wolfram & Hart.

Spike saw all this too. He saw Gunn fall to the ground and, even over the din in the alleyway, he could hear the man’s heart stop. He was dead before Illyria even got to his side. Spike’s heart caught as he watched his closest friend—rather, his only friend—die in the cold, rainy alley. He only saw a second of it, but a second was enough. Suddenly enraged, Spike savagely attacked any demon in his sight; not one of them landed a single blow towards him, almost as if his rage had formed a protective bubble around him, defending him as he defended the world.

Neither vampire knew when it would stop, Angel could only tell when it was well past sunrise. But there was no sun, not a single hint of the deadly light. The rain continued, blanketing the city in an impenetrable cloud of blackness that saved the vampires. Angel suspected that it was a helping hand from the Powers That Be, like the snow that blanketed Sunnydale all those years ago.

So the battle raged on.

As it turned out, the Senior Partners didn’t have as many demons at their command as they’d been led to believe; eventually, the horde thinned and finally disappeared. After cutting off the head of the last, struggling demon, Angel looked out at the alley and saw nothing but empty street. They won. Somehow, they won. They stopped the waves of horror that threatened to swallow LA, and then the rest of the world.

Angel whirled around and saw Spike leaning against the alley wall, his arms limp with fatigue and his eyes dropping closed in exhaustion. He ran over and caught the blonde just as he fell, then laid him down against the wall. “Spike,” he rasped, his voice sore from three days of yelling over the rain. “Spike, wake up.”

Heavenly blue eyes opened and tried to focus on Angel, but it was no use. He let his eyes fall shut again and sighed heavily. “Did we win?” He whispered.

“Yeah,” Angel smiled. “We won. I don’t know how, but we did.”

“But…” Spike said weakly. He was fading fast as total exhaustion tried to take him. “The sun?”

He shrugged. “I think it was the Powers That Be. They darkened the skies, kept the rain going so we could fight.”

“So,” Spike smiled, pulling his eyes open a crack, enough to see Angel’s shocked face. “I guess they’re not as unfair as you lot imagined.” The other vampire just nodded.

Spike was very content to just pass out right there in the alley, but then he remembered Gunn. Gathering strength from what seemed to be thin air, he managed to pull himself off the ground and crawled over to where the man lay.

He all but collapsed next to the body. “Hey, Charlie-boy,” he whispered. “You did great, a true Champion of humanity.” Spike reached up and closed Gunn’s sightless eyelids; he tried to hold back the sob building in his chest, but he couldn’t. “Enjoy the after-life,” he sighed tearfully.

Angel watched the whole display and couldn’t bring himself to say his own goodbye. Gunn knew the risks and he would’ve loved to go down fighting, so as far as Angel was concerned, everything was square. Besides, he’d been saying his goodbyes for months as he slowly watched his friends be brought down by Wolfram & Hart. But Spike was still here, and Spike still needed him.

Using what little strength he had, Angel got up and walked over to where Spike sat with Gunn’s body. He laid his hand on his shoulder and shook him slightly. “Spike,” he whispered. “We need to go. We can’t know how long the Powers That Be will keep the city dark.”

“One more hour,” Spike said.

“What?”

“It’ll be dark for one more hour.”

He gave him an off look. “How do you know?” Had the blond acquired psychic powers and forgotten to tell him?

But Spike just shrugged. “I just know. Probably because that’s how long it’s gonna take for me to get out of the city.” With all his strength, Spike pulled himself to his feet. He looked up at the other vampire with tears in his eyes and Angel was speechless; he had no idea that Spike really cared that much about Gunn.

“Spike?” Was all Angel could manage.

Spike nodded, patting Angel on the shoulder. “It was good times here, but I have to move on. I sure as hell can’t stay.” He cast another look down at the body and sighed. “Do me a favor, would ya? Give him a good burial, something proper, yeah?”

Despite all the rain, Angel’s mouth went dry; he just couldn’t believe it. Spike was leaving. Who knew where he would go after this? Who knew when Angel would ever see him again? He might think that Spike was an annoying prick, but that didn’t mean Angel _hated_ him. He just happened to be the only bit of family Angel had left in the world, and he wasn’t about to let him go without a fight.

“Spike,” he reached out and grabbed his arm. Spike arched an eyebrow at him. “You can’t leave.”

“Are you gonna stop me?” His voice was calm and even as Spike tried to keep a lid on his emotions. After all that had happened, he didn’t think he could take Angel’s emotional blackmail thrown on top of the pile.

Angel was stunned into silence for the second time in as many minutes. He couldn’t believe that Spike was being this rational; Spike was _never_ rational. Reluctantly, he let go of Spike and took a step back. “I’m not going to stop you,” he paused, trying to think of the right way to say this. “But we’re all we have left.”

“Yeah,” Spike nodded. “And that’s why I have to go.” His eyes flicked up to meet Angel’s. “I still love you, Sire, and yes, you are the only family I have, but I can’t stand to lose anyone else. I’d rather leave you here than stay and watch you die.”

Suddenly, Spike leaned forward and pressed his cold, wet lips to Angel’s. Angel’s eyes widened in shock and his mouth dropped open; Spike seized the moment and pressed his tongue in and deepened the kiss.

Angel couldn’t even comprehend all that was happening. First Spike’s strange sincerity and now this? There had been no signs all year that the blonde wanted to pick up the sexual relationship they had in the old days, if anything, there was simply a lessening of their projected hatred towards each other (which they both knew was fake). Angel had never expected this, not if he lived another million years.

So Angel gave in, he let his eyes drop shut and kissed Spike back. Feeling Angel’s willingness, Spike wrapped his arms around the older vampire’s neck and pulled him close, so close that he could feel Angel’s erection pressing against his own. Grabbing Spike’s hips, Angel ground against him, making them both moan.

Spike realized he had to stop this before it went too far. He couldn’t lead Angel on and give him false hope that he was staying, because he was leaving. He couldn’t stay here anymore, no matter how much he loved Angel.

Slowly and reluctantly, Spike pulled away, breaking the kiss. As soon as he felt Spike’s lips disappear from under his, Angel’s eyes flew open and he saw that same resolved look on the blonde’s face; Spike was still leaving.

He dropped his arms from Spike’s hips and stepped back. “Is there anything I can say to get you to stay?” With me, he mentally added.

Spike shook his head, the blonde curls plastered to his head by the rain fell into his eyes. Great, Angel thought, why did he have to look so damnably cute? Spike swept the hair out of his eyes, but the spell remained; Angel really didn’t want him to leave.

“You don’t have a choice,” Spike was responding to Angel’s thoughts; Spike’s sudden psychic insight didn’t bug him like it had before, he just didn’t want to see his Childe go.

“Yeah,” Angel nodded. “I know.”

“So,” he reached out and took Angel’s hand, giving it a squeeze before quickly dropping it. He wouldn’t build false hope, he just wouldn’t do that to Angel. “I’ll see ya around.” They both knew it was a lie, but they let it go.

Angel just watched as Spike turned and walked out of the alley. He turned to the right and Angel dimly registered that the docks were that way. He finally had to face it: Spike was gone. “And I was just starting to like him again,” Angel sighed to himself.

He turned around and grabbed the sword Spike had been using in the battle; all the demon blood and slime had been washed away by the rain, so Angel was happy he wouldn’t have to add cleaning to his list of chores. He rested the sword against the alley wall and leaned down to pick up Gunn’s body. Slinging his fallen friend over his shoulder, Angel grabbed the weapon again and walked out of the alley, ready to give Gunn the hero’s funeral that he deserved.

 

~

 

2784 A.D., starship New London

 

Angel woke just as his alarm went off. He reached over to silence it, but stayed in bed, thinking about the reoccurring dream he’d been having for, oh… that last seven hundred years. And just like he did every morning, he mentally filled in the blanks of what came next.

As it turned out, Spike’s promise to “see him around” wasn’t a lie; after just a few months, they both ended up in the same place: with Buffy.

It only took Angel two weeks to get everything squared away in Los Angeles. He buried Gunn with a small service then started gathering his things. He got his hands on as much of his Wolfram & Hart capital as he could, sold the Hyperion, and hopped a cargo freighter on its way to China. From there, Angel found his way across Asia until he finally arrived in Italy, where he’d last heard Buffy was residing.

She didn’t greet him warmly until he told her everything that happened. She was stunned, to say the least, but then she welcomed Angel with open arms and he went to work for the New Watchers Council, which was headed by Giles.

Spike found his way to Italy six months later. Though it had been nearly eight hundred years, Angel could remember that day like it was yesterday. He remembered Buffy coming up to his room with an anxious look on her face. Angel immediately abandoned what he was doing and asked her what was wrong. But Buffy just shook her head and took his hand. She took him downstairs to the living room and what he saw had him as speechless as Buffy.

Bare feet, bare arms and long, dirty-blonde hair that brushed past his shoulders. Spike was sitting on the couch.

He wore a pair of cut-off khaki shorts with large pockets, Angel could see a knife strapped to his calf using some kind of twine, his arms, legs and chest were covered with scratches and Spike didn’t even have a shirt. Where had he been?

“Rainforest, mostly,” he answered before Angel had even asked the question. “Black Forest, for a bit, and then here.” He stared blankly at the wall, refusing to look at Buffy or Angel. “I had to think about some things before I came. Can I stay here?”

Of course Buffy agreed. She gave him clean clothes and some clippers for his hair, then Angel helped prepare a bed while Spike took a shower. All the rooms were filled and Spike would have to share with Angel; he really didn’t mind. In fact, he planned to use this chance to get some information out of Spike. There were so many questions he needed answered.

When Spike was done with his shower, he walked into the room and lay down on the bed. He didn’t wake up for three days. “He must be exhausted.” Angel remembered Buffy telling him.

“Yeah,” Angel agreed. “I think everything that happened in LA affected him more than it did me.”

When Spike finally woke up, his eyes immediately focused on Angel, who had been watching the blonde for three days. “Sorry,” Angel admitted sheepishly. “I’ve been worried about you.”

Spike shrugged. “I don’t wanna tell you,” he whispered. “Can’t we just pretend that nothin’ happened?”

It bothered him that he wouldn’t get his answers about everything Spike had been through, but he agreed not to push.

They both stayed with the Watchers Council until Buffy’s death. Then Spike disappeared again.

Angel left just before the destruction of Earth. He fought in the battle to save it, but it was too late. He remembered the shuttle he was on flying away just in time, just before the Earth was burned to cinders, destroyed by the nuclear bombs humans had made to protect themselves. The image of the Earth burning out his window was forever etched into Angel’s mind, perhaps even deeper than the image of Spike crying over Gunn’s body that day in the alley, but not as deeply as the sadness in Spike’s eyes when they buried Buffy.

As far as Angel knew, he was the only vampire to have escaped the fireball that was formerly Earth. Most vampires were too caught up in the mass killings and the easy targets humans now made to realize that the world was going to end, _really_ end.e wore a pair of cut-off “”

Angel didn’t know how he’d made it this long, survived for nearly eight hundred years after Earth was destroyed, after a new Earth-like planet had been discovered and most of the scattered humans made their homes there. He just didn’t know, probably never would. And he couldn’t help but wonder how much longer his luck would hold out.

What Angel did know was that the Earth was apparently the only planet known to play host to demons—not just vampires. Demons of any kind were supposedly only found on Earth. The Five Galaxies Federation (the new, ruling body of the known Universe) invited Angel to many conferences to discuss the anomaly of Earthly evil.

The most ridiculous theory that Angel had ever heard happened at a conference in 2395, when a Male Thermite from the Setac system suggested that maybe it was humans’ thought of evil that created the demons. As far as Angel could tell, no other race or system of planets had a dichotomy theory like Earth’s, most simply believed evil to be one aspect of a being’s nature, nothing worth building up or fearing quite like humans had feared the pain of Hell. This “scholar” continued to insist that if early humans had never entertained the thought of Hell or a sort of evil that was separate from humanity, then demons never would’ve existed.

Angel had to use all his self control not to get up from his seat and strangle the little Thermite. As a species, Thermians had very skinny necks and it would be easy for Angel to snap it, but he knew that would not be well received.

Instead of lashing out physically, Angel simply stood up and glared the small man down. “Thank you for insisting that I’m a figment of imagination, but may I offer a counter point?” He leaned forward and got right in the shaking man’s face. “Can you create something out of your imagination?” He didn’t answer. “I didn’t think so.” With that, he straightened up and walked out of the room. That was the last conference he ever went to.

Now, things were a bit calmer. About two hundred years after he watched his home planet burn, after he had enough time to accept that he was the last of the vampire species, Angel managed to calm down. There was nothing he could do about it, so he just accepted living out the rest of Eternity alone.

Eventually, he made friends and even took some lovers, but nothing was ever permanent and Angel was okay with that; the only permanent thing was him, and that was perfectly fine for him.

In 2445, he accepted a job on a Federation star ship as record keeper. He was in charge of the history of every being on the starship, and the history of all their different home planetary systems. He was basically a glorified librarian, but he loved keeping track of history, especially the history of Earth.

He’d been on ten different ships in that last three hundred and thirty-nine years, but the New London had to be Angel’s favorite. It was added into the Federation’s fleet about fifty years ago and the captain—a man who could trace his family heritage back to London in the 1960’s—was a good friend of Angel’s, and invited him aboard. Angel accepted the invitation and started working as the ship’s record keeper. With access to every file held by the New London, Angel could see exactly where the captain could trace his heritage: straight back to Giles.

When Angel found this small connection to his past, he vowed to stay on the New London as long as he could. As far as he concerned, this was his home for the rest of his endless Eternity. Finally, Angel had a pretty good life. He was tired of the pain and loss of mortal friends, but that was a price he was willing to pay for a hundred years of friendship.

Grim thoughts ending somewhere nice, Angel smiled to himself and rolled over in bed to catch a bit more sleep. That’s when he caught sight of the clock. “Damn!” Angel cursed, pushing the covers off and jumping out of bed.

He got dressed as quickly as he could and grabbed his bag; he had a big presentation to give to a representative of the Five Galaxies Federation about why some of the information concerning the former Earth’s solar system shouldn’t be deleted. The Federation had enough storage in their data banks to store quadruple copies of all the information in the known Universe, yet they insisted on having these hearings to judge the deleting of files. Angel was starting to think that they did it to keep him on his toes.

When he reached the door of his apartment unit, Angel forced himself to stop. “The meeting isn’t for another hour, I’m just going in early to double check everything. There’s no need to rush.” Calmed slightly, he opened the door and walked out into the hall, still fighting the urge to tear down the corridor.

He took the lift down to deck three, where the Record Hall was, and walked down the corridor. Angel couldn’t help but smile to himself; every time he walked down this hall, he imagined that he was making another trip to that old Sunnydale library. That’s why he had them model the doors after the old library of his past, so he could keep on pretending that it was just another day in Sunnydale.

Angel grabbed his pass key and waved it in front of the ID pad. The lock clicked and the doors opened. He was almost inside when he stopped suddenly. Something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention, a flash of peroxide blonde, a color that wasn’t natural on any one of the Federation’s planets.

Against his better judgment, Angel turned around and looked. Five guards were escorting three prisoners and two more were holding a stretcher with an unconscious, chained body on it.

A lump formed in Angel’s throat and he couldn’t speak. He stood there, absolutely frozen. Luckily, one of the guards recognized him and smiled. “Hey Angel, how’s it going?” But Angel couldn’t speak, he just stared blankly at the prisoner. The guard followed Angel’s gaze and frowned. “Oh yeah, sorry about this but the cargo lift is broken. We had to get them to the brig somehow.”

“Dennis,” Angel whispered, finally forcing his voice to work. He pointed a shaking finger at the body on the stretcher. “What did he do?”

Dennis just rolled his eyes. “None of ‘em really did anything, just got caught in a riot on Stiven-4, and you know that we need to ship them off to central booking on Stiven-1, or the system will sue the Federation.” He looked from Angel’s shocked face to the body, then back again. “Are you okay, Angel? Do you know him or somethin’?”

Angel nodded wordlessly. “How much?” He managed to force out. He knew good and well that for a crime like rioting, at the very most, there would be a fine. If he could pay it off now, all the better. “What’s the fine? Just tell me and I’ll pay it.”

Dennis gave Angel a wary look, but nodded. “Let me check.” He grabbed his clipboard. “Fifty Marks.”

Angel immediately dug the money out of his pocket and handed it over. “Help me with him?” He asked.

Dennis nodded and started unchaining the unconscious man. He helped Angel lift him off the stretcher and smiled awkwardly. “What are you going to do with him?”

But Angel didn’t answer. He was already running off in the other direction, back to his apartment to put his long-lost family into bed. As Angel ran down the corridors of the New London, he could scarcely believe that he was holding _Spike_ in his arms.

 

To be continued...


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Old work from lj that I'm posting here. I fixed it up, but my writing from a few years ago still left a lot to be desired, so keep that in mind.
> 
> Not making any money, Joss owns all.

London, England, 2078

 

The rain came down in buckets, the clouds completely blocking out the sun. Spike suspected that it was another act of the Powers That Be, giving him and Angel a chance to say their final goodbyes to the woman they both loved. No matter what it was, Spike was really starting to hate the rain. It always rained when he lost the people he cared about.

He sat at the top of the stone archway over the entrance to the London cemetery, watching the large crowd putting Buffy to rest. Spike flat out refused to be a part of her funeral, refused to say goodbye to another loved one, but he couldn’t tear himself away. He watched the crowd of umbrellas gathered around the fresh plot, watching as everyone said their goodbyes, but mostly, he watched Angel.

The dark-haired man stood right next to the casket, no umbrella shielding him from the heavy rains. His face was a blank mask as he watched the ceremony, and Spike suspected that the situation was the same for them both: neither vampire had any emotions left to give up. They both loved Buffy more than life, but Spike was starting to think that neither he nor Angel would ever really be able to shed a tear again. There was just too much sorrow and not enough tears left.

When the ceremony ended and Buffy was finally committed to the Earth, the crowd slowly dispersed. A few of the younger Slayers gathered around frail old Dawn, and magically juiced Willow, to comfort them, but Spike stopped watching them and kept his eye on Angel.

Angel broke away from everyone and walked over to the cemetery gate, looking straight at Spike. He stopped a few meters away, giving the younger man his space, but still close enough to talk. “So,” Angel sighed. “Are you going to come down?”

Spike shook his head. “I’m leaving, Angel.”

He wasn’t surprised; he’d been expecting Spike to leave ever since Buffy got sick. “Spike, she was ninety-seven.” He said flatly. “That’s more than any Slayer could ever expect, that’s more than most humans!”

Spike just shook his head, his eyes blank and empty. “I told you seventy-four years ago: I can’t stand to lose anyone else.”

The familiar words rang in Angel’s ears. “That’s what you always say.” He sighed. “After Giles, Xander, Faith, Andrew; that’s what you always say! Then you disappear for six months and come back from a stint living in one forest or another. At least tell me where you’re going to be this time?”

“Not goin’ to the rainforest.” Spike said softly. “Not coming back again.”

“What’s different this time?” Angel snapped. He was beyond tired of playing these games with Spike. Couldn’t he just get over it like everyone else? Why did he have to take so much time out of his life to grieve?

Spike chuckled softly. “You and I both know the answer to that,”

Angel rolled his eyes. “You know, I’m getting really tired of this mind-reader crap you’ve been pulling for the past seven decades.”

He shrugged one sodden shoulder. “Shared grief gives you insight, but I’m the only one of us who will express it.” He paused for a moment, running a hand through his dripping hair before looking back at Angel. When their eyes locked, Angel suddenly knew that this time, Spike was leaving for good.

“Why?” Was all he could ask. “What makes this time permanent?”

“It’s Buffy,” then Spike turned and dropped down to the street. And then he ran, not stopping for anything.

He knew that those two little words were enough of an explanation for Angel; he knew that the dark-haired vampire would understand all the emotion rolled up in those words. But what Spike didn’t know was if Angel believed him. Would Angel be angry to wake up alone in the bed they’d been sharing for the past fifty years? That was how Spike always did it—after all the other Scooby funerals, he would disappear for the night, then crawl back into bed with Angel before taking off again. He wouldn’t do that this time. He was just gone.

 

~

 

2784 A.D.

 

Spike slowly became aware of his surroundings. Whatever he was lying on was soft; maybe he’d found a good patch of moss to set up on. But wait, he remembered waking up and going into town. There had been a drought in the jungle and he wasn’t about to kill off what few animals were left, so he was going to buy some Kause blood from the butcher. Kause were alien beasts that looked and tasted a lot like the Earth cows of old, so that’s what Spike would live off of whenever other sources were scarce.

But after the butcher… he couldn’t remember. There was a lot of noise outside, probably a water riot. Like an idiot, Spike walked out the front door instead of sneaking out the back. He remembered a sharp blow to his head, then nothing.

After thinking all this through, Spike came to a very horrifying conclusion: he didn’t know where he was. That hadn’t happened in over five hundred years.

Spike’s eyes flew open and he tried to figure out where he’d been taken. He half expected to be lying in some jail cell, arrested for rioting, but where he found himself was much nicer. In fact, it looked like he’d been taken to some sort of hotel. He was laying on a uniform, yet very nice, double bed. There was a lamp and an alarm clock sitting on the bedside table, a closed door off to one side, an open doorway leading to a small bathroom, and low, safety lighting blinking softly around the floor.

He was about to get up and go explore some more when he heard a soft, almost familiar voice. “Well it’s good to know that everything went well. Talk to you later,”

“Bye, Alistair.”

Spike definitely recognized _that_ voice, but how was it possible? The owner of that voice had been dead for five and a half centuries.

Before Spike even had a chance to think, the door opened. If Spike’s heart could beat, it would’ve stopped. _Angel_ just walked into the room.

“Spike, you’re up,” Angel smiled, walking over and standing next to the bed. “You shouldn’t be moving around too much. You got hit really hard.” Then, Angel’s hands were on his shoulders, pushing him back down. “Do you mind if I check you over a bit?” Angel asked, then started poking and prodding at injuries Spike didn’t notice he had.

All through Angel’s examination, Spike was completely silent, struck dumb by the presence of the vampire sitting with him, someone he thought was long dead.

“Okay,” Angel said finally. “You healed up pretty well, but you want to take it easy for the rest of today. No need to aggravate that head injury.” Spike didn’t say anything, he couldn’t say anything.

Angel’s smile fell when he saw the shock on the other vampire’s face. “Hey,” he whispered. “What’s wrong?”

All it took was that one stupid question and Spike’s silence broke. “What’s wrong?” He hissed, sitting up on the bed and pushing Angel back. “Bloody fuck, Angel! You’re dead!”

Angel smiled. He actually smiled! “So are you,” he joked.

Spike could hardly believe what he was hearing. “This isn’t time for jokes!” He yelled. “You should be dead! I saw the Earth burn! Saw the mushroom clouds billowing up into the upper atmosphere as America bombed the fuck out of the Middle East! I saw the oceans evaporate and nuclear winter reign down! Then I saw it all go up in a ball of fire as China nuked the hell out of everything! We were sweeping the cinders off the front steps of the Martian capital building!”

“Shush,” Angel whispered, grabbing Spike’s hands and trying to calm him down before he had a panic attack. “I managed to hop a shuttle out. I got away just as everything burned. I thought you were still down there. I thought you were dead.”

“No,” he shook his head. “After Buffy’s funeral I went to Russia and got a spot on their Lunar Colony.” He laughed hollowly. “They put me on mostly because the government wanted to know the affects of lunar gravity on demons and vampires.”

He took a breath and calmed down slightly. “So,” he said. “What’s new with you?” Spike let his eyes wander around the room again. “Looks like you set yourself up nice.”

“Yeah, let me show you around.” Keeping his hold on Spike’s hand, Angel gently pulled the blonde out into the living room.

Spike stopped cold. “Holy shit,” he whispered.

The rest of Angel’s apartment was covered from floor to ceiling with books. Shelves lined the walls everywhere, even into the small kitchen; well, Spike supposed that Angel didn’t really need the kitchen. The only spot of wall that wasn’t covered with bookshelves was a small niche in the corner with a computer screen and a small keypad attached to the wall.

Spike looked over at Angel. “Tell me, what would your occupation be?” He joked.

Angel smiled. “Record keeper and librarian.”

“Huh, never would’ve guessed.” He laughed.

Angel chuckled. “Funny. You can have a seat.” He gestured to the small couch sitting behind the coffee table, which was (shockingly) covered with more books.

“Thanks,” Spike nodded and took a seat. He picked up a few books and started looking at the titles. Most were written in one intergalactic language or another, but that wasn’t much of a problem, Spike could speak, read and write about a hundred languages. He bet that Angel knew more.

Angel sat down in his armchair and watched the younger man. Never had he ever even imagined that Spike was alive. Angel was sure that he’d died when the Earth was destroyed; after the business in LA, Spike always had a passion for forests, so that’s where Angel assumed he’d be living. And since they didn’t exactly get the _Times_ in the woods, he thought Spike would be ignorant to the nuclear hell enveloping the Earth. Apparently not.

“You said something about Mars?” He asked, breaking the silence.

“Yeah,” Spike nodded. He set the books back down and looked over at Angel. “When the Lunar Colony received intelligence that the Chinese had slated the Earth for destruction, we booked the hell out of there and moved operations to the Mars settlement.” His expression darkened and he pulled his eyes away from Angel. “But we left cameras and had a continuous feed of what was happening down there. It must’ve been some morbid curiosity that made me watch, but I stayed glued to those monitors until the very last moment.”

A shudder ripped through Spike and he covered his face with his hands, trying to keep his emotions in check and failing miserably. “Then the cameras went black and I knew everything was gone.” And then Spike fell silent, his body still shaking with unexpressed emotion. Angel sat back and let Spike gather himself. Then he started studying the blonde.

After paying Spike’s fine, Angel rushed him back to the apartment before running back to his meeting. He wanted to be there when Spike woke, but he had to save that information. Thankfully, the meeting was quick and Angel got back in time to explain everything, but what he hadn’t had was a chance to take in Spike’s altered appearance.

His hair was still the same, peroxide blonde color, and that made Angel smile; he loved that Spike managed to keep hold to some of their shared past. But as for the rest of him… to put it simply: things had changed.

Just like when he first appeared in Italy, Spike had no shirt or shoes, just a ratty pair of shorts with large cargo pockets to carry whatever he might need. His hair was cut short like always, but it wasn’t gooped up with gel like Angel remembered, it grew free and curled softly against his head. This time, Spike’s knife was in a scabbard belted to his right bicep; easy for grabbing with his left hand to defend himself. But that begged the question: what did Spike need to defend himself from?

After taking in Spike’s lack of clothes, Angel’s gaze shifted to his clasped hands. His nails were surprisingly clean, not dirty or even polished, so wherever Spike was, he was taking care of himself.

There was a silver allergy bracelet around his left wrist, with a circle and eight lines—the Universally recognized symbol for sunlight—along with ‘ _sun_ ’ written in the three major Federation languages: Taxian, Fieber and English. Angel spoke all three, along with two hundred other languages. Maybe it was more, he couldn’t keep count anymore. Spike’s name was also written on the back, _Spike_ and _Bloody, William the_. Angel couldn’t help but laugh at that.

Hanging on the same wrist, just below the allergy bracelet, was another silver bracelet, but this one was adorned with fifteen or twenty little charms. Each charm was a different kind of flower or a tiny little leaf, all different colors, made of precious stones found on the former Earth. The links of the bracelet itself were put together to look like a vine. Angel wondered how Spike came by the bracelet with all of is rare and expensive materials, especially since the younger vampire seemed to be living a life out in the wild; how would he have the money?

But Angel didn’t have much time to contemplate the charm bracelet as another piece of jewelry caught his eye: a simple, bronze-colored band around Spike’s left ring finger. A wedding band.

“Okay,” Spike said suddenly, snapping Angel out of his thoughts. “Sorry about that.” He looked over and saw the tight silence written across Angel’s face. He arched an eyebrow. “What’s wrong?”

“You’re wearing a wedding band.” Angel said flatly, unable to believe the words coming out of his mouth.

Spike looked down at his left hand, looking at the very familiar band. “Yeah? What of it? I thought you were dead, Angel. I wasn’t about to keep myself celibate for someone I’d never see again.” He snapped. How could Angel have this bad of a reaction? They both thought the other was dead, and now that they’d found each other again, what did this matter?

Angel said nothing, making Spike even madder. He stood up from the couch and glared down at him. “Besides,” he continued. “It was fifty years a hundred life-times ago. And even then, what was it? It was comfort and we both knew that it never would’ve lasted.”

Liar! Angel wanted to shout. They both knew that it was more than that, it was a continuation of the relationship they’d never got to see the end of, it was falling back in love with the only person who could understand the pain of bearing immortality with a soul. But what Angel said was: “I was just wondering if I was keeping you away from someone,” he whispered sheepishly.

“Oh,” Spike said. All the anger had gone out of his voice when Angel wasn’t jealous of the nameless, faceless person behind the bronze wedding band. But then Spike realized: it hurt him that Angel didn’t seem to care.

He sat back down on the couch and looked at the floor as he spoke. “You didn’t take me away from anyone. She’s been gone for a while. Her and the rest of my family.”

Angel sat and watched as Spike’s eyes filled with tears. Obviously, the blonde wasn’t trying to control his emotions anymore and he was laying himself out for Angel to see. “Spike,” he said.

“What?” He sniffed. He brought a hand up and whipped the tears from his eyes, but more came; he couldn’t stop.

“Do you want to tell me?” He could tell that Spike needed to get things off his chest, and maybe having such an old friend, lover—whatever—there to listen would make things easier.

Spike shook his head. “No,” he snapped.

“Okay,” Angel sighed. Part of him wanted to comfort Spike, but another part of him wanted to know. Who was this woman that Spike had loved so deeply? Who was the woman he’d gladly shed tears over? “Do you _need_ to tell me?”

A small sob ripped its way out of Spike’s mouth, and he nodded. “Yes,” he whispered tearfully.

“In 2460, I was on Yot playing cards. I needed some quick cash before I could disappear into the woods again, so I stopped in a city and found the nearest casino. I was takin’ this bloke for all he was worth, and he puts the deeds to his two slaves into the pot.” They both pulled a face at the putrid thought of slavery, knowing that Yot was one of the few planets that still allowed it. “After that, I knew I had to win. Whoever they were, I had to set them free.”

“Of course you did,” Angel whispered. Spike’s dark look softened, relieved that Angel had the same disposition as he did when it came to slavery.

“Yeah,” he sniffed and whipped his eyes. “So anyways, I won,” he paused. “I cheated, and got the whole pot and the deeds to his slaves. The bloke wasn’t happy, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to dispute my win; I’m a damn good cheat and not even the casino guards saw what I was doing.

“He had the slaves there with him and when I went to claim them, I stopped cold.” He sniffed again and gathered his words. “They were Chloroplasts, and gods, were they beautiful.”

Angel nodded. “Yeah, they would be.”

Chloroplasts were tree-people from the completely wooded planet of Sequoia; Angel had read about them, but there wasn’t too much information available. From what he could learn, he knew that most Chloroplasts were tall with long limbs and green or brown skin. Their hair resembled vines and most females of the species had flowers growing along the vines. They drew nutrients up from fertile soil, using their long fingers and toes as roots.

Angel could imagine with Spike’s love of forest life, how much love he would have for this species. And with the way both Spike and the Chloroplasts lived off the land, they would never want for anything. Also, Chloroplasts had an average lifespan of two thousand years; that would be more than enough for Spike.

Angel knew the rest of the story before Spike told it, but out of respect for the younger man’s pride, he let him press on.

“The female’s name was Janna; she had green skin, beautiful eyes the color of emeralds, and purple flowers in her hair.” Spike had a dreamy look on his face as he remembered the beautiful woman who made him believe in love again. “She had a little boy, a son named Roth, and he was the cutest little baby I’d ever seen, barely as high as my knee, green skin and those same eyes.

“As soon as I signed the ownership papers, I tore them up and proposed to her right there.” He shook his head. “I’d never felt love at first sight before, but I loved Janna more than I would ever know. More than I ever loved Buffy, or Drusilla, or—no offense—even you.

“And to this day, I don’t know why she did it, but she said yes. We were married the next day and a week later, I managed to find us a transport back to Sequoia. I’d never been there before, and it was the most beautiful little planet I’d ever seen. Everything was green and alive, and the canopy was so thick, I could be out in the day and not worry about the sun. It was paradise, and I would’ve been happy to live there for the rest of Eternity.”

“So why didn’t you?” Angel whispered. He knew by Spike’s tone that the story was about to go wrong, but not on this paradise planet that Spike fell in love with almost as hard as he’d fallen for his new wife and adopted son.

Spike took a shuddering breath and continued. “About 2550, Janna wanted to move to New Earth, she wanted Roth to learn about my heritage too. Even though I loved Sequoia, I loved Janna and Roth more. So we left.

“I found us a plot of land and we built a little house. The trees on New Earth weren’t as thick, so I needed some shelter, but most nights I stayed outside with Janna. Roth had his own room up in a nearby tree.

“And we were happy. It was wonderful. Mostly, the humans hadn’t had much of a chance to destroy this planet like they had their first one, so a lot of it was still green and thriving, with just a few big cities. They rebuilt a lot of the historical buildings from London, so we would take Roth to learn about parliament and all the things that I loved on Earth, then we’d go home and live our happy lives.”

Spike stopped again and Angel knew why: they’d finally reached the unhappy ending of this story.

“Then one day,” Spike said, his voice tight with tears. “In 2698, three men came to the house in the middle of the night. I was out hunting and Janna and Roth were waiting for me when these grubby humans broke down the door. They said that our plot of land was on an oil field and they tried to force Janna to sign the deed away so they could get to it.”

Spike’s face contorted in rage. “Humans never learn, do they? They destroyed their first planet the same way and now they were going after New Earth! I’m actually surprised it took them a hundred and fifty years to get desperate enough to try and run us off the land we rightfully owned!”

Suddenly, Spike stood up from the couch and walked over to one of the bookshelves, resting his head against the tomes, trying to calm himself down again. He started rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet and Angel half wondered if these memories were too much for him.

After another minute of collecting himself, Spike started speaking again, but he spoke to the bookshelves, not wanting to look at Angel. “Naturally, Janna refused. She told them they had no right to come in here and try to take our home. And then, for no reason, they started shooting. Roth was outside and he heard the shots. He ran in to try and protect his mother, but they got him too.

“I got back home just in time to see the men ransacking the place for the land deed. I could smell Janna and Roth’s blood, that thick, sweet smell, like sap or maple syrup, and I knew they were gone.

“I stormed into the house and killed them all. That was the first time I’d had human blood in seven hundred years, and I wasn’t planning on stopping until I’d bled New Earth dry.”

“So why didn’t you?” Angel asked again. He got up from the chair and came to stand right next to Spike, providing silent comfort until he was signaled to speak. “Since New Earth is still there, still populated by humans, I assume that you stopped.” Spike nodded. “What made you stop?”

“Janna,” he sighed, hitting his head against the shelf. “I heard her call to me. She wasn’t… gone yet. She told me what happened, and that she wanted me to leave New Earth. She didn’t want me getting in trouble for killing three humans… she didn’t want me to die in jail.

“So I—” his voice cracked slightly, but then Spike got control of himself. “So I told her I loved her and I waited for her to pass, then I left. Spent the last eighty-six years in the Stiven system, keeping mostly to the woods, away from humans or higher beings of any kind.”

He shook his head. “I don’t want anything to do with any species that calls itself the dominant species of a planet, because anything that considers itself the master of its environment usually destroys whatever environment they have. And then they take away what everyone else has.”

“Spike,” Angel sighed. He reached up and placed a comforting hand on the other man’s shoulder. “I could never imagine your loss, but you had more than two hundred years, wasn’t that enough?”

Spike spun around suddenly and glared death at Angel. “Enough?” He hissed. “I was supposed to have two thousand years! Janna was five hundred when I met her and she had fifteen hundred years left, but Roth was just a baby. He had his whole life ahead of him! And I wanted to be there for all of it!

“I was promised two thousand years and all I got was two hundred and forty. Tell me, Angel, if you were supposed to have two thousand years with Buffy, and only got two hundred and forty, wouldn’t you be pissed too?”

Angel took a step back from the enraged vampire. “Sorry,” he whispered. “I’ve gotten used to the mortality of friends. Two hundred and forty years is more than I could ever dream of.”

“It’s okay,” Spike sighed. He sat down on the floor and put his head in his hands. “Even after eighty-six years, the anger is still fresh. Sorry,”

“You’re fine,” Angel nodded.

They sat there in silence for a few minutes, Angel taking in everything Spike had told him, Spike trying to pull his feelings back under control.

“And now,” Spike sighed. “You know why I’m so fucked up. What about you? Any painful scars you want to rip open?”

Angel shrugged. “Not really. I’ve been here since 2743, and that’s kind of it. My life hasn’t been as remarkable as yours.”

Spike smiled. “I bet.” He looked around the room again. “So, where exactly is here?”

“The New London,” Angel said. Spike’s smile fell. “What’s wrong?”

“Angel,” Spike whispered. Angel could tell that he was trying to keep his voice calm. “Tell me that you did not bring me back to New Earth.”

“No,” he shook his head and Spike relaxed. “The New London is a Federation starship.”

At hearing the word ‘Federation,’ Spike tensed up again. “Angel,” he wasn’t even trying to keep the anger out of his voice this time. “It was three Federation soldiers that killed Janna and Roth.”

 

To be continued...


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reposting an old fic from lj.
> 
> Not making any money, everything belongs to Joss.

“Spike, calm down,” Angel said softly. He held his hands out in front of him, unsure if he should touch the other man; that might make it worse.

Spike shook his head. “Don’t tell me to fucking calm down!” He shouted. “Get me off of this crate now!”

“We’re in the middle of deep space, we won’t find a planet for days, so why don’t you just—”

“If you fucking tell me to calm down one more time, I’ll rip out your pelvis and wear it as a hat! Now get out of my way so I can get out of here!” He panted.

Spike was backed up against the bookshelves, trying not to have a panic attack. After what happened with his family, he swore he would never have anything to do with the Federation again, the mere thought sent him into a state of complete terror. He needed to leave now; he needed to get off this ship.

“Spike,” Angel said again, his patience wearing thin. “There’s no planet we can drop you on for another six days.”

“Then jettison me into space! I don’t breathe, so it’s not like I need the air! Just let me out!” Spike’s gasping breaths got harsher and more ragged and his face started to turn red. Despite his statement to the contrary, Spike—a vampire that didn’t need to breathe—was making oxygen a necessity.

“Okay, that’s it.” Angel snapped. He reached forward and grabbed Spike’s shoulders, pulling him away from the shelves and throwing him onto the couch. “Calm down! There’s nothing we can do right now, but I will get you off this ship as soon as I can.”

But Spike wouldn’t calm down. He struggled against Angel’s hold, trying to get up from the couch. “No! Damnit, let me up!”

He held Spike’s head still, locking their eyes. “Spike. You. Need. To. Stop.” He said slowly and firmly, holding his gaze.

Spike stopped struggling. “Okay,” he whispered through clenched teeth.

Angel let go and rested his hands back on the younger vampire’s shoulders. “Good.”

Then Spike swung at Angel. His fist connected and knocked the brunette backwards over the coffee table, knocking over some of the books. He stood up and glared down at Angel. “Let me out,” he growled.

Angel glared back at Spike. “No,” he reached up and whipped his lip, looking at the blood smeared on his fist. So, Spike wanted to fight, did he? Well if Angel knew anything about the other man, he knew that the only way to talk to him was through blows.

He pulled himself up off the floor and held out his hands. Spike fell into a loose fighting guard, keeping his eyes on Angel. “I win: you stay until we hit another planet. You win: I’ll jettison you into space right now. Deal?” Angel said, his voice deadly calm.

Spike looked Angel up and down, sizing him up to see if the years as a librarian had rusted his fighting skills. Based on the solid layer of muscle under that simple, black pull-over, Spike was guessing not. But it didn’t matter, he used to be able to hold his own against Angel in a fight and Spike would bet that he stood a fair chance now.

“Yeah,” he nodded. “Okay.”

“One,” Angel said.

“Two,” Spike counted.

“Three!” And they both lunged.

Angel landed the first blow, but Spike struck back, his sharp knuckles immediately raising a bruise along Angel’s cheek. He snarled in pain and his vampire ridges came to the surface; this wasn’t a game anymore.

He grabbed Spike and tried to keep a control hold on him, but Spike was thin and strong, so he easily slipped out of the larger man’s grip. Somehow, before Angel knew what had happened, Spike was behind him. He felt two sharp punches to his kidneys and groaned in pain. He was so done with this now.

Reaching over his shoulder, he grabbed Spike’s arm and pulled him down to the floor. Punching him square in the face, Angel managed to stun him long enough to reach for the emergency medical kit hidden in the nearby wall panel. He pressed the key code, a panel opened and Angel grabbed the small syringe full of sedative. He loved technology: emergency medical supplies that knew exactly what you needed.

By now, Spike managed to get to his feet and was poised to attack again. He drew his fist back to punch, but Angel was ready. He turned around and plunged the needle into Spike’s arm before the blonde even had a chance to realize what was happening.

Spike stopped in mid-punch and swayed a bit, falling back to the floor. He looked up at Angel, mad as hell, but unable to move. “Fucking cheater,” Spike whispered.

Angel kneeled down next to him and stroked his fingers over the puncture wound. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. Spike said nothing as the sedative overtook him and his eyes dropped closed.

 

~

 

A bright light assaulted Spike as one of his eyes was pulled open. He tried to raise an arm to smack whatever it was away, but his arms felt like they were full of lead. All he could do was lie there. “Damn,” he managed to whisper.

“Spike?” Angel asked. The light shut off and Spike saw a fuzzy outline of the brunette leaning over him, a small medical flashlight in his hand. “I was checking your responses; are you awake?”

“Of course I’m awake, you bloody cheat!” Spike snarled.

Angel shrugged. “You were talking earlier and I thought you were awake then.” He waved the flashlight in front of Spike’s eyes as if to prove it had a proper function, but the movement only made Spike nauseous. “I was just making sure. So,” he put the flashlight aside and held three fingers up. “How many fingers do you see?”

“Three,” Spike tried to move his arm again and push Angel away, but it was almost like his mind was awake while he body was still sedated. “And one stupid, cheating git.”

Angel sighed, shaking his head and standing up. “Yeah well, if I hadn’t cheated, we would’ve gotten out of control and somebody would’ve gotten hurt.” He paused. “Somebody other than us.”

“Oh, so you’re psychic now?” He tried to move again, with the same results. “Jeez, Angel, what the fuck kind of sedative did you give me?”

Angel hung his head and refused to look at Spike. “The wrong one.” He mumbled.

Spike snorted. “Fucking perfect. You bring me in to space so you can almost kill me.” He tried to roll over and managed to move a little; it was wearing off.

“Hey!” Angel snapped suddenly. “I didn’t bring you up here, you got your own ass dragged on board.” He sat down in the armchair, glaring angrily as the blonde tried to move his inert limbs. “Now it doesn’t matter that I cheated, I still won, which means you stay here for the next six days until we reach a system. That was the deal.” He eyed the way Spike was moving and gaining momentum. “And if you keep doing that, you’re going to roll off the couch.”

Spike stopped wiggling; damnit, he was right. “Fine,” he growled. “But if I have to stay, I don’t wanna look at you, so get me out of here.” Suddenly, a devious smirk spread across Angel’s lips, a smirk that Spike really didn’t like. “What?”

“You can’t move,” Angel said smugly.

“Yeah, what of it?” He snapped back, not liking where this was going.

“That means,” Angel leaned back in the chair and propped his feet up on one spot of the coffee table that wasn’t covered with books. “You have to listen to me.”

“Ugh,” Spike growled, shutting his eyes and wishing he could bash his head against something and knock himself out again. But when he realized that he didn’t have any other options, Spike admitted defeat. “Do your worst.”

Angel’s smirk of satisfaction shifted and he was suddenly more serious. “I know you’ve had your hard times, but my life hasn’t exactly been sunshine and roses.” Spike let out a snort of laughter, but said nothing.

“I stayed with the New Watchers Council up until the end. I fought in the Battle for Earth and stormed the weapons launch site to try and abort the nuke that ended up setting off the chain reaction.” Angel sighed heavily and covered his eyes with his hand; he didn’t want Spike to see him cry. Angel hadn’t cried in a very long time, he told himself he would never do it again and that everything would roll off him like Teflon. He managed to fight back the tears, but just barely.

“We got there,” he sighed again. “We must’ve been two seconds too late. The missile launched, and everything went with it. Me and the few Slayers I had with me ran away. I’m not really sure where we thought we were going, but when we got outside again, there was a shuttle there waiting for us. Willow sent it. She knew that we would fail.”

At hearing the familiar name, Spike started paying much more attention. “Willow?” Angel nodded. “But she would’ve been—”

“Two hundred and sixty-two,” Angel whispered. “After she hit a hundred and fifty, we thought it was just the magics keeping her going, but when we celebrated her bicentennial, we knew that she was going on sheer force of will. She wouldn’t let us face the problems of the world alone. The way she saw it: she helped create the race of Slayers, so she was responsible through until the end.”

“Yeah,” Spike nodded. “That sounds like Willow.”

“It really does,” Angel agreed. “After I’d been in space for about a decade, it occurred to me that Willow probably would’ve made it to the end of the world whether it was five years of five hundred years after Buffy died. She might’ve even made it if it was five thousand years away. Willow always saw herself as second in command; there to watch over and protect in Buffy’s absence.” He paused for a moment to try and clear his head. The thoughts of his long-ago life on Earth were affecting him more than he thought they would.

While Angel had been telling his story, Spike was trying to move his limp arms with a little success. The strong sedative had worn off enough for him to reach over and place a comforting hand on Angel’s knee. Angel smiled up at him and covered Spike’s hand with his own. “Thanks,” he whispered. Spike nodded.

“I got away with six Slayers, and I tried to stay with them as long as I could. Eventually, when New Earth was found in the 2300’s, they all moved there and I was free to go about life as I pleased. I heard from them every once and a while, but eventually they died and there were no more Slayers, so no more reason for me to even stay in contact with New Earth.”

Spike arched an eyebrow. “No more Slayers? I thought Willow enchanted all the Potentials so there’d be hundreds of ‘em every generation.”

Angel shook his head. “No demons or vampires on New Earth, no unholy evil, so no need for the Slayers.” Spike gave Angel a disbelieving look. “What?”

“Yer kidding, right? Any demon or vampire that escaped the fireball of Earth would’ve headed to New Earth as soon as they found it. All those tasty humans in one place, it would’ve drawn them like a bug zapper!”

“Spike,” Angel said slowly. “You and I are the only vampires that escaped Earth. We’re the last ones.”

Spike’s eyes went wide like a deer in headlights. “I think I’m gonna be sick,” he whispered.

Angel jumped up from the chair and rolled Spike over, just in time for him to vomit on the floor. He held on tight, making sure Spike wouldn’t slip into the pool of blood and bile that was collecting on the carpet, all the while, silently cursing himself. How could he have been so stupid? He should’ve gone into it gently, not blurted it out like that!

Finally, there was nothing left in Spike’s stomach and he nodded. Angel rolled him back onto the couch and grabbed a wet wash cloth and a glass of water from the kitchen. He pressed the glass to Spike’s lips. “Thanks,” he whispered as he sipped from the glass. “I promise I’ll clean it up.”

“No problem,” Angel said softly. “And no need,” he pointed down to the carpet and Spike saw that the pool of his stomach contents was already cleaned up. “Self-cleaning floors. Drink.”

He held the glass for Spike as he finished off the water, and then Angel wiped the other vampire’s mouth. Spike tried to lift his arm and take the wash cloth, but his limbs were still under the pull of that sedative. “Don’t worry, you’ll have full movement back in about fifteen minutes. So just sit tight.” Angel whispered.

“Okay,” Spike said, but there wasn’t any feeling behind the word. He was deeply lost in his thoughts.

How could they be the last? Sure, Spike had been fighting against vampires and demons, and he didn’t like the loss of innocent lives at the hands of evil, but he’d never even imagined eradicating them entirely. How could it be possible?

“It’s a lot to deal with, I know,” Angel sighed.

Spike chuckled. “So you’re the mind reader now?”

He shrugged one shoulder. “Shared grief gives you insight.”

Spike forgot his mental vertigo for a moment. “You remember that?” He asked.

Angel nodded. “I remember everything you’ve ever said to me.” His look darkened. “You really didn’t know?”

“No,” Spike shook his head. “I thought all the demons would settle on New Earth and I stayed the bloody fuck away from there as long as I could. When I moved there with Janna and Roth, I just assumed that no vampire frequented the forests, staying in the cities where the pickings were easy.”

“Nope,” Angel shook his head. “You’re the only vampire that’s ever been on New Earth.”

“Really?” He asked. “Didn’t you ever stay there?”

“No,” Angel said sharply. “I dropped the Slayers off, that’s it. After I knew they were settled, I headed out for whatever starship would take me. I haven’t been on a planet for more than two months since the Earth was destroyed.” There was something like anger in those dark eyes as he thought about his former life. “Settling on planets leads to attachments, attachments lead to pain, and I won’t deal with pain anymore. So I stay on starships. It’s better that way.”

“You don’t have any friends?” Spike asked in shock.

“I have friends,” that didn’t sound as convincing as Angel meant it. “But everyone on a starship is in flux. No one stays longer than they need to, most people on board right now are just here until we get somewhere else. I make friends for a little while, and then they leave. We all benefit from the time they were here, but it doesn’t hurt that much when they leave.

“I learned a long time ago that permanent friends only lead to pain. One minute, you’re holding a new baby in your arms, and then just ninety short years later, you’re paying your last respects. I didn’t want to deal with the pain anymore, so I don’t. The oldest friend I have now is seventy-three, he’s the captain of this ship. I’ve known him for fifty years and I think that’s the longest friendship I’ve had in about a hundred years.”

Angel smiled suddenly and reached out to grab Spike’s hand. “I want you to meet him.” He said.

Spike shook himself slightly. “I think I just got whiplash from that. Who am I dealin’ with now? Jekyll or Hyde?”

“Ha,” Angel shook his head. “No, I’m serious. He’s on his way down now.”

“Okay,” he said slowly. “But what’s with the sudden switch? First you hate having friends, then you want me to meet your friend? Am I missing something?”

Angel shrugged. “Just because I don’t want to get too involved doesn’t mean that I don’t cherish the friends that I have. And he’s not really a friend, he’s more like family.” A soft bell rang somewhere in the apartment and Angel smiled. “That’s him. I’ll be right back.”

Angel stood up and walked out into the hallway, where Spike could only assume the front door was. “Hey, thanks for walking down,” he said softly. “I know it’s a long trip from the bridge.”

“No trouble at all,” another voice said. It was that familiar voice from before, the one that Spike thought he recognized. “I can’t wait to meet him.”

“This way,” then Angel appeared in the living room again. “Spike, this is Alistair,”

Spike’s eyes went wide as the other man walked into the room. Soft blue eyes smiled at him as Alistair extended a hand down to touch Spike’s shoulder in greetings. “So you’re the reason Angel asked for the week off. Good to meet you,” he smiled.

“Giles?” Was all Spike could say.

And it really was: Giles was staring down at him. Spike didn’t know how it was possible after so long; surely family resemblance couldn’t be passed down and preserved after seven hundred years? Did Giles even have any living relatives? But it was Giles! Mostly-grey hair with a few wisps of brown, gentle blue eyes with familiar wrinkles at the corners, and a defined, clean-shaven jaw. Spike was looking at Giles, age seventy-three.

Alistair laughed and shook his head. “You and Angel both called me that the first time we met. Tell me, who is this friend of yours that I resemble so closely?”

Again, all Spike could say was: “Giles!”

“Just an old friend,” Angel smiled. “But I really wish you could’ve known him. Even you’d be surprised by the similarities.”

He chuckled softly. “I’ll take your word for it.” Then, Alistair turned his attention back to Spike. “I just wanted to come down and introduce myself, and tell you that whatever you need during your stay on my ship, you will have it. Any family of Angel is family of mine.”

With this kind gesture, Spike suddenly found his words. “Thank you,” Alistair nodded.

Spike tried to sit up again, feeling very rude for greeting the man on his back. Spike never thought that he would want to be this nice to a Federation captain. “Sorry I don’t get up. Angel tried ta kill me and now I’m paralyzed.”

“What?” Angel shrieked. “I did not! I grabbed the wrong sedative. And you’ll have full movement in five minutes, so stop whining.”

Alistair gave Angel a look. “The medical boxes can read a person’s intentions. You wanted to give him that sedative.”

Spike’s head whipped around and he glared at Angel. “I knew it!”

The other vampire rolled his eyes. “We were fighting, it’s what we do. Get over it.”

Spike just glared.

“Well, I think that’s my cue to leave.” Alistair said. He smiled back down at Spike. “It was good to meet you, and please remember, anything you need, you are more than welcome to.”

“Thank you,” movement had mostly returned and Spike lifted his arm to shake Alistair’s hand.

Alistair gave Spike’s hand a squeeze and then turned to leave. “Goodbye Spike, Angel.” He walked out of the room and Spike heard the front door open and close. They were alone.

“Jeez, Angel,” Spike sighed. “Does he look like Giles or what?”

Angel nodded. “Alistair is a direct descendant.”

Spike’s eyes went wide. “You’re kidding? I didn’t think Giles had any kids.”

“He didn’t have any,” he smirked. “Any that he knew of. In his youth, Giles was quite a wild child. I managed to find three illegitimate children that he fathered in his twenties. Alistair’s family is the only one left passing on the genetic material.”

“But how is it possible?” Spike asked. His strength had finally returned and he managed to push himself up so he was sitting on the couch. Being eye-level with Angel made their conversation easier. “After so long, you’d think that Giles’ traits would’ve been bred out of his descendants.”

“You’d think,” Angel agreed. “Alistair is an anomaly; his DNA isn’t exact, but it’s close enough. Honestly, I don’t know how it happened. The chances are beyond impossible. One in a quadrillion chance.”

Spike smirked. “Wow, you’ve really adapted to this whole ‘future’ thing. Time was, ya didn’t even know how to use a computer.”

Angel smiled back. “Times change. Change with them or get out of the way.”

“And you chose the former.” Angel nodded, but Spike was still amazed by all the transformations his Sire had been through.

He looked back at the hallway and shook his head, remembering the sight of Alistair and how closely he resembled Giles. “But how did you find him? And how did you know he was related to Giles?”

The other man shrugged. “I found Alistair by accident. I met him in a bar when he was twenty-years-old and bailed him out of a fight. I recognized him immediately and called him Giles.” He laughed softly. “Sometimes, I still call him Giles.

“No, he said. He told me his name was Alistair Leeds and he’d just been named captain of the New London—youngest captain in the Federation’s history. Since I helped him out, he offered me a job. I agreed, and as soon as I had access to his records, I checked him out and found that my suspicions were correct: he was related to Giles.” Angel opened his hands, gesturing to the room around them. “And I’ve been here ever since.”

Spike smiled. “Small Universe.” Angel nodded. And then, Spike moved on to his more pressing question. “You said somethin’ about files?”

“Yeah, what do you need?”

He shrugged one shoulder. “I just wanted to read some of this stuff myself, catch up on what little I missed of Earth. You don’t mind, do ya?” He really hoped Angel didn’t.

Angel shook his head. “No, that’s fine, but I could tell you anything you need. I am the ship’s record keeper.”

Spike rolled his eyes and stood up from the couch. “Said with no small hint of pride.” He didn’t even try to deny it. “And no thanks, I don’t want to put you through that again.”

“Through what?” He protested.

“Please, Angel,” Spike snapped, suddenly serious. “What you were telling me earlier—I know that talking about Earth bugs you. Seems to be the only thing that breaks through your icy attitude.” He added softly.

Angel looked away, pretending he didn’t hear that. “Okay,” he whispered. “Record Hall is on deck three. You want me to show you down there?”

Spike shook his head, walking towards the door. Angel followed him. “No, I’m good, thanks.” He eyed a clock on the wall, half past noon. “I’ll be back by six.”

“Okay,” Angel nodded, but he really didn’t want to let Spike go. He’d just gotten him back after nearly five hundred years of thinking the blonde was dead. He tried to stall.

“Spike!” He said, just as the blonde’s hand was on the doorknob. Spike looked back over his shoulder and Angel frantically searched his brain for anything to say. His eyes flashed from Spike’s naked torso to the coat rack next to the door. He reached over and grabbed a jacket, holding it out. “You need to wear a shirt or the guards will stop you.”

Spike knew that it was just a cheap ploy to get him to stay a few seconds longer, but Angel did have a point. He nodded. “Thanks,” he whispered. Spike reached out and took the jacket, their fingers brushing together ever so slightly. They both inhaled sharply at the contact, which could only mean one thing: the old spark was still there.

Now, Spike wasn’t normally one to deny his feelings, but he had to go; he needed to find some things out for himself. He slipped the jacket over his shoulders and zipped up, nodding his thanks to Angel. “Be back in a bit,” then he turned and walked out, leaving Angel alone in the apartment.

 

To be continued...


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting an old work from lj. I've gone over it a bit, but I didn't want to take the time to bring it up to my new standards. It's still enjoyable. :)
> 
> Not mine, never were mine, and everything belongs to Joss.

Spike found the Record Hall with ease. All the Federation starships were laid out the same way, so if you’d been on one, you’d been on them all. After a very brief stay on a starship back in 2437, Spike knew the ins and outs of the New London.

When he first saw the entrance to the Record Hall, Spike couldn’t help but laugh. The front doors looked _exactly_ like the Sunnydale High library. He wondered if Angel put in a special request for that, and knowing Angel’s close friendship with Alistair, it was probably an easy request to get through.

“Record Hall? More like library.” He walked inside and shook his head again; the inside looked just like the high school library too. “Oh Angel,” Spike chuckled. “You’re such a predictable wanker.”

Everything was there; the study table, the double staircases, the stacks upon stacks of books, even the counter and the librarian’s office were exactly the same. It was like Spike had fallen back in time, back to when he used to raid Sunnydale High in his attempts to kill the Slayer.

But that wasn’t why he was here now.

Spike heard the distant hum of computers and walked up the stairs and off into the stacks. Well, there was one difference: the ship’s library was much, much bigger than the one from Sunnydale. It seemed to go on forever, but eventually he found the computer area. He was very surprised that there were so few, only about twenty machines in all. With new technologies, books had gone out of fashion, and people preferred to read digitized information off of a monitor.

He chased the peculiar library set up out of his mind and focused. Spike sat down at a computer and the monitor blinked to life. “ _Request_?” It asked in that dulcet, female tone that every Federation computer had.

“File search,” Spike responded.

“ _Key words_?” The computer asked.

“Earth,” the computer thought for half a second, then the screen filled with information. News articles, books, everything the Federation had containing the word _Earth_. When it was done listing, Spike looked up at the results bar. “Displaying twenty of…” he trailed off as he tried to think of how to say the number. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen that many zeros.” He sighed.

Time for a new idea. “Exclude files containing New Earth.” He commanded. The computer thought again and came back with sixty-two billion results. “Well, at least I can pronounce that number.” Spike sighed to himself.

“Cross reference with time period 2078 to 2243,” the year he left and the Earth was destroyed.

The files shifted again and this time, he was left with about two billion files. “Cross reference New Watchers Council of England.” One million files left. Spike smiled. “Now we’re gettin’ somewhere. Cross reference Angel.”

When the computer was done thinking, Spike was left with one little number: two thousand results. “Boy, oh boy, Angel,” Spike smiled. “I didn’t know there was so much the Council had on you. Exclude files containing Angelus.” Surprisingly, the number didn’t go down, staying at two thousand. Spike leaned back in the chair and just looked at the computer in shock. “Well then, I would’ve thought for sure that they were keeping files on your former self. Guess not.”

He leaned forward and started searching through the entries, reading all about Angel’s work after Spike had left Earth. He was almost through the book Angel had written about how to properly train a Slayer when he heard a soft noise behind him.

He reached into the jacket Angel had given him and grabbed his knife, spinning quickly and pointing it at the throat of whoever was behind him. With a snarl, Spike bared his fangs. The boy standing there squeaked in distress, dropping his arm full of books and covering his face.

Spike immediately relaxed when he saw that it was just a kid, probably Angel’s assistant. “Sorry,” he whispered. The boy opened his eyes carefully and Spike’s jaw almost dropped. Familiar blue eyes stared back at him; they were Giles’ eyes. The boy was Alistair’s son, and Spike had almost killed him.

“Sorry,” Spike said again. He set the knife down on the desk and held up his hands. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

The boy lowered his arms slowly and looked Spike up and down. “That’s okay,” he squeaked, his voice still filled with fear. “I should-shouldn’t’ve snuck up on you like that.”

Spike shrugged. “All the same: I’m sorry.” He held out a hand towards the boy. “I’m Spike, a friend of Angel’s.”

He nodded, but didn’t take the offered hand. “I’m Dezzy, uh, Dezmond. I’m the assistant record keeper.”

“I figured. You’re Alistair’s son, right?” Spike smiled. Dezzy nodded. “But really, I am sorry for scaring you. I’m too paranoid fer my own good.”

Dezzy nodded. “Alright. And i-if you could please put the knife away? I would appreciate it.” He gave a weak smile.

“Okay,” Spike grabbed the knife and slid it back into the jacket’s sleeve; it slid into its scabbard. “No more knife,” Spike said.

Dezzy smiled. “Thank you.” He bent down to pick up the books he’d dropped, speaking to the floor more than Spike. “I just got a call from Angel and he told me that you were down here and that you might need help.” He gathered together the last of the books and papers and stood up, shifting nervously. “Do you… need any help?”

Spike could see the fear in the boy’s eyes, he didn’t know why this young man was afraid of him (well, beyond the business with the knife) but he wouldn’t make him stay if he was uncomfortable. “No, I’m fine,” Spike shook his head. “I know enough of enough to get everything that I need.”

“Well, w-what are you looking for?” Dezzy took a hesitant step towards him and Spike could tell that the only thing keeping him from fleeing was his interest in knowledge.

Spike shrugged and looked back at the computer. “I was looking at what I missed on Earth. I left about two hundred years before it blew and I wanted to catch up a bit.” He sighed as he looked at that number: two thousand results. It had seemed small before, but now it was just as big as sixty-two billion. “But I can’t seem to cut the results down any more.”

“Huh,” Dezzy murmured. He set the books down on the desk and leaned over, looking at the screen and reading the different words Spike had cross referenced. “This isn’t going to get you anywhere.”

He reached forward and grabbed the mouse, giving Spike an eyeful of the patches of purple-blue scales on Dezzy’s arm. He looked up and saw a few more patches on the boy’s right cheek, the bridge of his nose, jaw and neck. Dezzy was a mixed race, some reptile species or another; Spike could only think of a few that were compatible with humans, and even fewer that had purple-blue scales.

Since Alistair was perfectly human, Spike expected that the mix was on Dezzy’s mother’s side. This didn’t bother him, after all, what was a vampire but a mix? What bothered Spike was that this was even allowed; the Federation had outlawed mixing of species a hundred years ago. The only reason Spike’s marriage to Janna had held up was because he was dead and there was no way for them to reproduce. So how had Alistair remained captain of a Federation ship with such a blatant violation of the law?

While Spike had been studying the boy, Dezzy found the correct information. “Okay,” he smiled. “I found the books you need, follow me.” He turned around and started walking into the stacks.

Not wanting to lose him, Spike scrambled out of the chair and followed closely, but then again, he probably wouldn’t’ve lost Dezzy, especially with the long purple and blue _tail_ following him. Spike didn’t care if the Federation sent their blindest inspector for the decade inspections of the ship, no one could miss that tail.

“Here we are,” Dezzy announced, stopping in front of a bookshelf. “Everything you would ever want to know about the New Watchers Council after the death of Buffy Summers.”

For the second time, Spike’s mouth wanted to drop open in shock. “You. You know her name?”

“Yup,” he nodded. “Angel talks about her a lot. He might play the cold, brooding ‘oh I don’t care about anyone’ part, but that’s all just a mask.” Dezzy sighed. “Sometimes, I think he misses her more than he thinks he should. Usually, those are the days he locks himself in his office. It’s always the same days, and I’ve narrowed it down to her birthday, their anniversary and her death.” Finally noticing the look of confusion on Spike’s face, Dezzy snapped his mouth shut and dropped his eyes. “But I shouldn’t presume to know so much.” He mumbled.

Spike shook his head. “No, it’s good that you know all this.” He turned and looked back at the tall bookshelves, and then down the rows and rows of other books. “I’m just a little overwhelmed. It’s so different here. The last Federation ship I was on didn’t have a single book. And then this place…” he trailed off with a shake of his head.

Dezzy nodded, smiling proudly. “Oh yes, Angel insists on it. He’s fine with digitized information, but he says that nothing can replace books, so we use both. Personally, I like taking care of the books, it makes my job a lot more fun than just sitting around fixing computer errors.” He rolled his eyes. “How boring would that be?” Spike laughed; now Dezzy sounded more like a kid.

“So tell me,” he smiled. “If you know so much about Buffy, how much more could you tell me about Angel’s life? Does he ever mention me?”

A red blush stained Dezzy’s cheeks and he ducked his head again. “Yeah, s-sometimes.” The stutter came back as Dezzy got nervous again.

“Sometimes?” Spike asked. Based on the boy’s reaction, sometimes was an understatement. “C’mon, Dez. What does he say about me?”

He shrugged. “He doesn’t really _say_ much of anything.”

Spike caught on right away. “Okay,” he said “So what _doesn’t_ Angel say about me?” Dezzy stood there for a moment shuffling his feet, thinking about whether he should betray Angel’s secrets.

“Ugh,” he hissed at himself. “Fine, come with me.” He grabbed Spike’s hand and started dragging him through the stacks again, towards the back of the library. “The office in the front is mine, Angel’s is back here.”

They stopped at a door and Dezzy pulled a key out of his pocket, an old-fashioned skeleton key. He unlocked the door and pushed it open, flicking on the lights. “This is his office,” Dezzy whispered.

His jaw fell open and Spike let go of Dezzy’s hand. The walls of Angel’s office were covered in pictures, old photographs of his time with the New Watchers Council, his life in LA, Sunnydale, and finally: his vampire days with Darla, Dru and Spike. Spike mentally took count; he was in most of the pictures.

A corkboard behind Angel’s desk was covered with papers, each containing different information about vampire sightings on other planets, some even mentioned Spike by name. But each had ‘FALSE’ written across it in giant red letters. Angel had been looking for more of their kind—looking for Spike—but always came up empty. Who knew how long he’d been up to this? Ten years? Fifty years? A hundred?

“The way Angel tells it,” Dezzy whispered. “Ever since he became a Federation record keeper, he’s been looking for signs of other vampires, you, specifically.

“Over three hundred years of looking and nothing ever panned out, so six years ago, he just gave up. I think he picks it up again from time to time, for a week or so, that’s why he hasn’t taken anything down, but mostly, he’s called it quits.”

“Christ,” Spike whispered, his eyes tearing up as he looked at all the things in Angel’s office. Angel had saved some things from their evil days; cufflinks, vases, paintings, quills, all things that Spike had owned.

Dezzy watched Spike walk around the office, exploring Angel’s heartbreaking treasures. “You know,” he said quietly. “My Father used to tell me stories about Angel when they first met. They’d have drinks together every night and some nights,” his voice softened. “ _Important_ nights, Angel would cry. He’d tell my Dad about how lonely he was, how all he wanted was to have you back, and even if it cost him his soul, he’d want you.

“He said that after a while, about twenty years or so, Angel stopped crying, but Dad knew that he was still sad.” Dezzy gulped, amazed that the words were coming to him; he never thought that he would talk about Angel’s secrets like this. “Dad thought that, after a while, Angel would’ve been happy with any other vampire. Just knowing that there was still someone like him would’ve made him so happy. Even though he knew vampires were evil, he just wanted someone to share his eternity with.

“Dad said that Angel wanted anyone, but I don’t agree with that. He wanted you. It was always you. Even though he was alone—and he hated it more than he would ever say—he wouldn’t settle for anything less than you. And he might pretend that he doesn’t care anymore, but he does. He cares too much, and that’s what he’s afraid of. He’s afraid that if he lets himself love someone again—love them as much as he loved you—that he’s going to let himself get hurt again.”

Dezzy lifted his hand and whipped at his tears; he hadn’t even realized that he was crying. “Well,” he sighed. “Do you need anything else?”

Spike shook his head. “No, but if you could just leave?” He looked up at Angel’s wall of dead ends and his eyes started to water too; he couldn’t imagine being that alone. Sure, he was alone, but not like Angel was. After Janna passed, Spike hadn’t wanted any company. Angel did. “I need to look some of this over.”

“Yeah, sure.” Dezzy nodded. “Call me if you need anything.” Spike nodded and sat down at the desk. Dezzy pulled the door closed behind him, letting the vampire work.

 

~

 

When the door closed behind Spike, Angel leaned forward and banged his head against the metal. “Damn,” he whispered.

He shouldn’t’ve let Spike go. Angel knew that the blonde had always liked to figure things out on his own, but he really wanted to tell Spike. He might not be the most open person these days, but he could open up to Spike. If there was anyone he could be himself with, it was Spike. And now he’d lost his chance.

There were just so many complicated things that Spike brought with him! Did he still love Angel? Could they even be friends anymore? Would Spike give up his life as a forest-dwelling wanderer to stay with him? Did he even want to stay with him? He’d hoped that in telling Spike about his life, he would get some of these questions answered.

Hitting his head against the door once more, Angel turned and stalked back into the living room. He slumped down on the couch and buried his head in his hands; only five and a half more hours to go.

The day slowly crept by. Angel tried to busy himself with some work he was behind on, but he couldn’t focus. He couldn’t stop thinking about Spike. After about half an hour, Angel knew he needed to do something. Maybe Spike would need help down in the library.

He picked up the phone and waited for his assistant to pick up. “Hello?” The boy’s soft voice said happily.

“Yeah Dez, it’s me.” He sighed. “A friend of mine is aboard the ship and he wandered down to the library, could you go see if he needs any help? He’s about one meter eighty, bleach blonde hair.”

“Sure, I’ll go look for him.”

Angel nodded. “Thanks, Dezzy,” he hung up the phone and buried his face in his hands. “Let’s hope he doesn’t kill the kid.” He mumbled to himself.

When four o’clock rolled around, Angel started planning out what he was going to say to Spike. With everything that happened in their shared past, he had to know if the other vampire had any interest in staying with him.

Though he wouldn’t admit it, Angel had secretly been searching for other vampires, looking for someone to share immortality with. He was really searching for Spike, but after so long, he’d not only given up on finding Spike, but any vampire. He’d accepted his loneliness. He’d gotten used to it. He wasn’t happy about it, but it was all he had. And then, he’d started planning out the rest of his life, thinking about when exactly he’d give in and end everything. He wasn’t in a hurry to do so, but he still needed to know the limits of his own immortality. Being the last vampire, Angel was _not_ going to go through eternity alone, he just wouldn’t.

Then Spike was there and all of Angel’s carefully laid out plans got swept away. With Spike back in the picture—not necessarily living with him, but just staying in contact with him—Angel saw eternity as a less lonely place. He might _want_ to live forever, maybe, if Spike was willing to go through it next to him.

But that was the thing: Spike was a wild card. Angel could no more predict Spike’s actions now than he could seven hundred years ago. Not to mention the surprise of the wife that also threw a wrench into Angel’s romanticizing. How devoted to Janna’s memory was Spike? Enough to make him refuse Angel’s company?

He couldn’t deal with all these questions without answers; he was a librarian, all the questions he’d ever been up against had answers, so why didn’t these?

Pushing everything out of his mind, he concentrated on the moment, and right now, he needed to make room for Spike. The blonde hadn’t spent a real night in Angel’s apartment, and he needed a place. Hopefully, a permanent place, Angel thought before he could stop himself.

He walked back into the living room and over to the computer in the corner. He pulled up the menu with apartment controls and commanded the computer to change the couch into a bed. Angel turned around and saw that it was already done; he would be more than happy to share _his_ bed with Spike, but he wasn’t about to presume that the blonde still wanted that kind of relationship with him.

He went back into the bedroom and got a set of extra sheets to make up Spike’s bed. Angel knew that he could command the computer to do the work for him, but he liked doing things the old fashioned way. It helped to clear his mind a bit.

With everything set up, Angel glanced at the clock and saw that it was nearly six; Spike should be back soon. He walked into the kitchen and pressed a button on the refrigerator. One container of blood dropped down from the shoot and he popped it in the microwave, then he retrieved another. When they were both heated, Angel walked back into the living room and sat down in the chair, setting Spike’s blood on the table and sipping his own. He looked at the clock again; Spike would be back in just a few minutes.

At half past six, Angel started to get worried. Had Spike gotten lost in the labyrinth-like halls of the ship? He thought about calling down to Dezzy again, but decided against it; Spike wouldn’t like it if he knew Angel was checking up on him. So all he could do was wait.

The hours slipped by; seven o’clock, eight, ten. It was nearing midnight and Angel was still sitting there with his glass of blood, probably stone cold by now.

He set the glass down and put his head in his hands, one grim thought on his mind: Spike had skipped out. Even thought the New London wasn’t near any system, Spike would’ve found a way. He shouldn’t have expected anything less.

After he dealt with Spike leaving (again) Angel was free to explore the other problems of the blonde’s disappearance: he was alone. Again. With Spike’s uncanny ability to disappear into thin air, Angel would probably never find him. The burden of loneliness that had just been lifted came crashing back, feeling heavier than before.

Anger boiling up inside of him, Angel couldn’t help but blame Spike for his selfishness. Didn’t he understand all the pain Angel had been through? Being the last of a species wasn’t the easiest thing; it was loneliness beyond what most could imagine; it was standing in a room crowded with people and still feeling totally isolated; it was hating yourself for staying alive when everyone else was dead. But Spike couldn’t understand that. He didn’t _want_ to understand that.

Then, the wedding band that Angel had been trying to ignore popped back into his mind. Maybe Spike was thinking the same thing, about possibly _being_ with Angel again and the weight of his devotion to his dead wife started taking its toll on his heart. Spike had always been one of the most loyal people Angel had ever known, but maybe after so many years, he’d lost his ability to love everyone as intensely as he could. Maybe that’s why he left, because he simply couldn’t love Angel as much as he still loved Janna.

Neither answer sounded good, and there wasn’t even a lesser of these two evils; they both just sucked.

Angel stood up from the chair and stormed off to his bedroom. They say never go to bed angry, but that was about all he could do. He’d never felt this betrayed before. As he climbed into bed and tried to calm down, Angel wouldn’t let himself cry. He wouldn’t shed one single tear over the lost love that didn’t want him back. He refused to cry over what had been given to him so recently and taken away so suddenly.

He fell into an uneasy sleep, painful memories filling his dreams.

 

~

 

Spike was never happier that Federation doors didn’t squeak when they were opened; he was getting back later than he had planned and he didn’t want to incur Angel’s wrath any more than he needed. He walked in to the living room and saw a bed laid out for him and a cold glass of blood sitting on the coffee table. Now he felt even guiltier; Angel had been expecting him.

He was sorry for getting back late, but he’d found a lot in the library that he needed to go through and it had taken him longer than he thought. But what he learned was priceless and Spike wouldn’t give up that knowledge for anything.

After finding Angel’s wall of dead ends, Spike had gone through the rest of his research. Angel hadn’t just gone through the major systems in the Federation looking for vampires, he’d investigated. Every. Single. Planet. From planets that the Federation recognized, to planets that the Federation refused to even acknowledge existed, Angel had looked through them all.

It took Spike a while to figure out how to pronounce the number, but he figured it was something like: five hundred and sixty-three quintillion, two hundred and seventy-three quadrillion, fifty-eight trillion, three hundred and seventy billion, nine hundred million, seventy-three hundred thousand, six thousand, three hundred and twelve. It was an eighteen figure number. Spike nearly fell out of the chair when he saw it. That was how many planets Angel had checked, and how many planets had come up empty.

But the scope of Angel’s search wasn’t even the worst thing. No, the worst part had to be Angel’s plans after he gave up on finding other vampires. In a locked drawer in his desk, Spike found a folder full of Angel’s plans to kill himself.

In 3243, one thousand years after the destruction of Earth, Angel was planning on going to New Earth to dust himself. He wanted to see one last Earth sunrise before going out in a blaze of pain-filled glory. He knew exactly where on New Earth he wanted to go to do this—a little place with land formations amazingly similar to Sunnydale. But if that area was changed or destroyed by then, Angel had another plan—a little town on the island of New Eire, exactly where Galway had been. Angel had taken such care in planning his death, Spike didn’t know whether to be scared or impressed by all the specific details. Both thoughts made him queasy.

He made it through all Angel’s plans at about ten then he spent the next two hours thinking everything over. The first thought he had was obvious: he couldn’t let Angel do this, not after they’d just found each other again. Things were complicated and Spike wasn’t really sure if he was going to spend any significant time with his Sire, but he had to do something. Spike hadn’t really sorted out all his feelings for the dark-haired vampire (or if there were even feelings left) but even if it was the last thing he would ever do: Spike would not let Angel carry out his plans.

Ignoring the bed and the blood, he walked into Angel’s bedroom. The door slid open noiselessly and Spike stood there for a moment, watching Angel sleep. His brow was creased in pain and frustration as he slept. Since Angel’s mind always jumped to the worst possibility, Spike had no doubt Angel thought he had skipped out. He would apologize later.

Stripping out of his clothes as quietly as he could, Spike kept stealing glances to make sure he hadn’t woken the other man. Thankfully, he was still asleep. Spike lifted the covers and slid into the bed next to Angel, wrapping his arms around him. He could feel Angel’s skin twitch slightly; he was finally awake.

He kissed the back of Angel’s shoulder, rubbing his nose against the soft skin. “You were really alone, weren’t you? You thought you were the absolute last.” Angel nodded. “How did you deal with that?”

Angel just shrugged. “I was the Omega Man. That’s all I knew.” He rolled over and wrapped his arm around Spike, pulling him closer. He could feel Spike’s flaccid shaft pressing against his side and knew exactly how this was going to go. Spike wasn’t interested in sex, he wanted to get to the bottom of whatever he’d found in the library.

He looked down into Angel’s dark eyes and shook his head. “And you were planning on killing yerself,” he whispered. “A thousand years after the Earth was gone, you were going to go to New Earth and end it all.”

“Yeah,” Angel nodded. “A thousand years seemed right. I’ve already lived longer than most beings can even dream of. I’ve lost friends, lovers, family. A thousand years after Earth, what would I have left?”

Spike could feel his entire body tremble at Angel’s question. When he looked into Angel’s eyes, he knew that there was only one way he could make the brunette want to abort his plans. He wasn’t completely sure if he wanted to give up his wild life for even a little bit, but he definitely knew that he would be able to stand being away from Angel ever again. So Spike said the only thing he could.

“Now you have me,” he whispered.

Angel’s eyes went wide at what the younger man was offering: Spike would give up his forest life to stay with him. Spike loved the forest, and he would give it all up? Angel shook his head. “Spike, no, you don’t have to—”

But Spike reached forward and laid a finger across Angel’s lips, silencing him. “We don’t need to talk about it now.” His eyes roved hungrily over Angel’s naked body and he suddenly felt the soft flesh pressing into his side twitch to life. “I think we’ve both been alone for too long.”

Angel nodded. Burying his fingers in Spike’s soft hair, he pulled their lips together in a passionate kiss. Their first kiss in seven centuries.

 

To be continued…


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting an old fic from my (now deleted) lj. I've gone through for typos, but haven't done much by way of changes, so it's not really up to my current standards. I hope everyone enjoys anyways. :)
> 
> Not mine, I'm making no money from this, everything belongs to Joss.

“So, explain this to me: Dezzy,” Spike looked over his shoulder at Angel.

After Spike had crawled into bed with Angel and renewed the relationship they’d had seven hundred years ago, they made love like never before. They touched, caressed, and relearned what they’d forgotten about each other’s bodies. Spike’s choice to stay with Angel reawakened a passion inside of the older vampire that he thought was long dead. He’d had other lovers in the past, but nothing was as intense as it was with Spike. Now, Angel wondered how he could’ve survived without Spike in his bed, because now that he had him back, Spike’s love seemed an essential part to life.

And best of all: Angel could barely feel the wedding band anymore. Now that Spike had made the choice to stay with him (for now, at least) the blonde’s past devotions to that significant woman seemed like nothing; the little piece of important jewelry didn’t seem as intimidating as it was yesterday. Things finally seemed to be falling into place.

It was noon right now, meaning they’d been in bed for eleven hours. They made love until the morning, then calmed down a bit and started talking. They talked about everything they hadn’t had a chance to go over, and then they started taking turns asking each other questions. Angel hadn’t dared go near the most pressing question: was Spike really committed to staying with him? _Really_ staying? They could leave that for another time, right now, they just needed to catch up.

“What do you want to know about Dezzy?” He asked. “He’s the best assistant record keeper I’ve ever had. Did he do something wrong while you were down there?” Although Angel very much doubted that.

Spike shook his head. “No, he was great. I’m just wondering…” he trailed off when he saw the confusion on Angel’s face, so he decided to just be out with it. “For Christ’s sake, Angel, the kid has a tail! Now I really don’t care, but the Federation outlawed species mixing a hundred years ago. How has Alistair not been arrested?”

Angel smirked. “The New London is… a _special_ kind of Federation ship. All of the inspectors that we get are very good friends of Alistair’s, so they let us slide on some things.”

Spike arched an eyebrow. “The whole bloody lot of you are breaking laws left and right,” he translated.

“Yup,” Angel nodded. “And you’ve met Dezzy, he’s a great kid. The Federation is all on about not wanting any mutations of the species, but there’s no wrong here. Alistair loves his wife and they have four beautiful, loving, well-behaved children. They’re not doing anything wrong, so the Federation shouldn’t fault them for who they love.”

Spike smiled, squeezing Angel’s hand. “And we know all about fighting for love, don’t we?” He nodded and pressed a kiss to one angular cheek.

“Okay, my turn,” Angel smiled, pulling Spike closer.

“Alright,” he sighed as if put upon. “But last time you got two, so next time I get three.”

Angel arched an eyebrow. “How does that even make sense?”

“I don’t know,” Spike shrugged. “Just ask yer question.” He poked Angel in the stomach to spur him on.

He laughed at the tickling touch and batted Spike’s hand away, capturing it and bringing it up to his mouth to kiss. “Okay, my question is…” he trailed off and looked down at Spike’s hair, still as blonde as ever. “If you lived out in the wild, how did you find the facilities to keep your hair bleached? Don’t you need a sink, water, and oh yeah, bleach?”

Spike smirked. “Remember when I told you about my work on the Moon?” Angel nodded. “Well, when I was up there, we all lived in the same close quarters and shared the same bathrooms, and they didn’t like the bleach smell.” He laughed softly at the memory. “One of the guys—Viktor—hated it so much, he offered to pay for gene modification so I wouldn’t need to bleach anymore.”

He gave Spike a look. “You had gene modification in 2079?” Spike nodded and Angel shook his head. “Wow, they didn’t even have that stuff on Earth until 2096, and I didn’t know it worked on vampires.”

Spike shrugged. “It was developed on the Russian Lunar Colony. I was one of the first test subjects, but I can’t complain.” He ran a hand through his hair. “It’s grown in like this ever since.”

“So I guess you’re a blonde for the rest of eternity?”

Spike nodded. “No protest from me, makes my upkeep go way down.”

“Okay,” Angel nodded. “But did they make your hair forever short or something? When we picked you up on Stiven-4, you were pretty well groomed. I never would’ve guessed that you’d been living in a forest.”

“Whenever I set up on a new planet, I usually find the nearest town and go in every six months or so. You guys found me just as I was returning to the forest. For one week, I live in town; get myself a hotel room, a hot shower, a haircut and,” he grinned. “Sometimes, a little somethin’ extra.” He gave Angel a nudge. “If ya know what I mean.”

Angel rolled his eyes. “You go to a brothel.” He said flatly. “Why? What could you possibly need from a prostitute?”

“Angel,” Spike said slowly. “Please don’t tell me that I have to explain this to you.”

“Oh please, I know _that_ , but why do you need it so much? You’ve always lived your life stripped down to the bare essentials. I just don’t see sex as that essential.”

Spike shrugged one shoulder. “Sometimes I just need, and sometimes, I can’t push back the urges. Haven’t you ever felt like that?” He whispered.

Angel chuckled. “Not in a long time,” Spike gave him a look and he laughed again. “Well, before last night, it had been a long time. I’m surprised you didn’t notice.” He looked away, not wanting the blonde to see his insecurity. “I was probably a bit rusty.”

“Nonsense.” Spike said quickly, tightening his hold on Angel. “Everything was perfect, like we’d never been apart.”

“Thanks.” He leaned down and kissed him softly. Angel was perfectly happy to lie there and kiss the beautiful blonde he’d been missing for centuries, but as Spike pulled away, Angel guessed that he had other plans.

“My turn,” Spike smiled. But his happiness flagged a little as he thought about the question he wanted to ask: why had it been so long since Angel had taken a lover? Based on last night, Angel was perfectly capable, but why had he kept from finding someone? If it was because of the ongoing search for him, Spike would feel horrible for denying the other vampire the right to move on.

“Hey,” Angel shook Spike. “Are you going to think all night or ask me a question?” He joked. Spike looked up, all the joking gone from his eyes. Angel’s smile faded. “Spike?”

He dropped his eyes and started tracing patterns on Angel’s chest with his finger. “Why didn’t you ever find anyone?” He asked. “You told me that you’d taken lovers before, but you never talk about one in specific. Was there no one important? No one that you loved as much as I loved Janna? Or was there just no one at all?”

Angel shrugged. “I didn’t want to bring anyone up. Janna was one thing—she was your wife, after all—and I didn’t want to compare any relationship I’d had to what you had.” There, that sounded convincing enough.

But Spike didn’t look convinced. “Well that’s one interpretation. But I wanna know if it’s somethin’ more. The other day, when I was down in the library, Dezzy said that you were afraid to love because you didn’t want to let yourself get hurt. Is that true?”

Suddenly, Angel let go of Spike and rolled over in the bed. He pushed the covers off and sat up, pointedly not looking at the blonde. “Dezzy is so fired,” he growled to himself.

“Shush,” Spike whispered, sitting up and resting his hand on his shoulder. “He’s a sweet kid and he was just trying to help. And I’m trying to help too. I wanna know why you’re so afraid of loving someone, because I don’ want that to happen to me.”

Spike sighed and leaned his head against Angel’s back; after last night, he’d finally made his decision. “If you want me, I’ll stay with you. I’ll give up my life out in the woods where I’m free, because when I’m with you, I feel better than I ever could, even when I am out in the wild.” He moved closer to Angel, wrapping his arms around the man’s waist. “I’d give it all up for you, and I just want to know if you’d give me all your love in return.”

“Jeez, Spike,” Angel hissed, grinding his teeth together in frustration. “Do we have to talk about this?” He shrugged Spike’s arms off, which only made the other man mad.

“Yes we do,” Spike snapped. “This is the most I’ve ever given up for anyone—big shock that it’s you—and I want to know that I’m getting something in return.”

Angel couldn’t take anymore. He stood up from the bed and glared daggers at him. Spike glared back. “Love is supposed to be unconditional.” He said in a deadly whisper. “And right now, you’re making it conditional.”

“Yes!” Spike stood up as well, standing toe to toe with him, not giving a flying fuck about the height difference. “I’m making it conditional on you having the same devotion towards me that I have towards you. That is not too much to ask.”

“Ugh!” Angel growled, running his hands through his hair. “This is not how we work! We’re supposed to start fighting after the first decade!”

“Fuck, Angel! This is no time fer jokes!” He balled up his fists at his sides, fighting the urge to punch him, but Spike had learned a long time ago that fighting solved nothing. Yesterday afternoon: case and point. Instead of lashing out, Spike just pushed past Angel and stalked into the living room.

He rolled his eyes. “Typical,” he whispered under his breath. He had no clue about the can of worms he’d opened, or what this fight was really about, but Angel knew that if he didn’t chase Spike, he’d never get him back. After all he’d been through, that was very much not an option.

After taking a few calming breaths, Angel walked out into the living room. Spike was standing at the apartment’s only window, staring out at the stars and planets as they whizzed by. His arms were crossed in front of his chest and his jaw set in a hard lock, trying to close himself off.

Angel sighed and walked over to Spike, wrapping his arms around his waist and resting his chin into the hollow of Spike’s shoulder. “What are we fighting about?” He whispered.

Spike took a deep breath. “If you want me, I’ll stay with you. I was planning on disappearing on whatever little planet you could drop me on, but now I’ll stay here and make a life with you. I’ve made my home in one forest or another for over four hundred years, and I’m willing to give that up. For you.” He said stiffly.

He took another breath and hung his head. “Dezzy told me that you live a very cold life and that you don’t seem to care about anything. If I’m going to give up everything for you, I want to know that yer gonna care about me. I want the ice to melt. I want to have that old passion that Angelus and William the Bloody had for each other. I want—” his voice cracked with emotion and Angel knew that something big was coming. “I want to know that you love me,” he sniffed, trying to hold back the tears. “As much as I loved Janna.” He turned around and looked deep into Angel’s eyes. “Because that’s how much I will love you in return.

“So tell me,” he sniffed again. “Why have you been so cold for so long? Where did your passion go?”

Angel just shook his head; it was finally time to break down his walls. “You really want to know?” Spike nodded. “Okay,” he bent his head and rested his forehead on Spike’s shoulder. He didn’t want to look at Spike when he told the story he swore he’d never tell.

“2450… sixty, seventy, I can’t remember anymore. Mid-thirty-fifth century, I was on my first Federation starship, the Mera Luna. I was just the assistant record keeper and mostly I kept to myself. I was still angry about what happened with the Earth, still damaged from the war, and I didn’t think that anyone could really love me anymore. Then I met _her_.”

He stopped for a moment, trying to collect himself. Spike could sense the pain in his Sire and wrapped his arms around Angel’s neck, trying to comfort him. It seemed to work as Angel’s grip tightened in silent gratitude.

“She was a teacher at the ship’s school, and she specialized in Earth history, so we always had a lot to talk about. She was only twenty-three when we met.” The same age Spike was when he was turned. “She was small, blonde with blue eyes, a wide smile, and a beautiful laugh. She had this dark sense of humor, but she was still sweet. Every time we would fight, she’d break out laughing, effectively ending the argument, and she was just wonderful.” He paused again, but Spike could see where this was going.

“She reminded you of Buffy,” he whispered.

“And you,” Angel nodded against Spike’s shoulder. “And I think that’s how I trapped myself. I fell for her and I fell hard. And she said that she loved me as much as I loved her.” He shuddered. “It was so perfect, but at the same time, it wasn’t. That was the first time in four hundred years that I’d seriously dreaded a human’s mortality. I’d gotten used to losing friends, and then she came along and I actually thought about turning her. I thought about it a lot.”

Spike swallowed away the lump in his throat. That was a line even he wouldn’t cross. The Universe couldn’t afford more soulless fiends plaguing the cosmos.

“Yeah,” Angel chuckled softly. “I know. After the Earth was destroyed, I promised that I would never bring our evil back. No matter how lonely I got, vampires would stay an almost extinct species. And then I met her and everything changed.

“I spent twenty wonderful years with her, wrestling with the decision to turn her, or just enjoy the human years I had left. Then one day, she took the choice out of my hands.”

He stopped again and Spike knew that what he was about to hear was worse than Janna’s death. Spike had never suffered so much as he had the day Janna and Roth were killed, but he had all the happy memories of his family to keep him going. Whatever Angel had with this woman, Spike knew that it ended in a disaster no happy memory could erase.

“We were having dinner one night, nothing special about it. Suddenly, she slams her fork down and glares at me. She asks me when I’m going to get around to it. When am I going to stop dragging my feet? She didn’t want to get married, so I knew that wasn’t the problem.” He laughed suddenly. “If that was the problem, I would’ve proposed right there! But what she wanted was—”

“I get it,” Spike whispered. He didn’t want to make Angel say it; it would probably be too hard for the older vampire. But they both knew what she asked: she wanted to be turned.

And that was it. That was what made Angel’s pain so much deeper than Spike’s: Angel still believed in the inherent goodness of people, then to have such ugliness show in someone he loved so deeply? That would be worse than her human death. In Angel’s eyes, that would be the death of her soul. And he would never be able to deal with that.

“I told her no. Didn’t even tell her that I’d been thinking about it practically since the day I’d met her, I just said flat out no. I told her that a vampire is an evil, soulless thing and I would not bring them back. And that was when I realized,” his voice cracked, but he kept going. “If I had come to the decision to turn her, I would be killing what I loved about her.

“I told her that, but she still asked for it! She wanted to know why I wouldn’t share Eternity. She wanted to know why I didn’t love her enough to keep her around forever.” Angel was laughing now, his grief taking a maddening turn.

“As soon as she accused me of not loving her, I knew that the woman I loved was already gone. All she could see now was her aging face in the mirror. And then she saw me! Her solution! Towards the end, I think that’s all she saw me as: her solution to the aging problem. Some part of her still loved me, I’m sure, but that part was too small for me to even see.”

He fell silent again and Spike could feel something wet against his shoulder; Angel was finally crying. This was that first time he’d cried since he met Alistair. And all Spike could do was hold on and wait for it to pass, wait for Angel to get everything out. It had all been compounding for the past fifty years, but he was willing to wait it out.

They stood there for quite a while. Angel bent around him, holding on like life and crying like never before. Spike just stood there, holding onto Angel as his shoulders shook and his body convulsed with sobs.

“So,” Angel whispered after only twenty minutes of crying on Spike’s shoulder. He thought that it was going to take longer. “I started out with a woman that exemplified all the good characteristics in Buffy and in you, and then I ended up with a woman that was everything ugly and horrible that I found inside of Darla.”

Spike just hugged Angel closer. “I don’t think I know how to deal with this.” He pulled back and lifted Angel’s chin, locking their eyes. “Just tell me what you need from me and you’ll have it.”

Angel nodded. “I’m just wondering if you see it now? Do you understand why I’m so cold? I learned that loving someone only leads to pain, and I am so tired of the pain, it’s just easier not to love anyone.”

Spike shrugged. “Personally, I’ve found that the love outweighs the pain.”

Angel chuckled. “Oh really? Tell me then, Spike,” his voice was harsh again, but Spike knew this was just attacking out of grief. “When you do something, you throw your whole being into it. Whenever you’ve lost a loved-one in the past, how many times has the pain made you want to kill yourself?”

“Okay,” he whispered. “I’ll give you that. I’ve contemplated killing myself more times than I’d care to admit.” He gave Angel a small smile. “Though I’ve never gone as far as to plan it out in the great detail you’ve gone to,” even Angel couldn’t help but laugh.

“But, in all seriousness. No matter how many times I’ve nearly waited for sunrise, I always discover that the benefits of that friend far outweigh the pains of their loss. And that pain makes me feel my soul like never before, and that makes me remember why I got it in the first place: because I loved a girl enough to suffer the pains to reap the pleasures.

“And that’s what you have to think about: is it worth it? I’ve found that ten times out of ten, the answer is yes.”

Spike just stood there for a minute, watching Angel digest his words. Finally, Angel’s eyes flicked up to him. “Take me to bed?” He whispered.

Spike nodded frantically. “Oh yes,” he grabbed Angel’s hand and started towing him back to the bedroom.

Just as they reached the bedroom door, Angel couldn’t take it anymore. His grip on Spike’s hand tightened and he pulled the blonde back towards him; Spike was smaller and lighter, so he came easily. As soon as he landed in Angel’s arms, he wasted no time in pulling Spike close and shoving him up against the door frame.

Their lips met in a passionate kiss, more intense than any other kiss they’d ever had. Spike moaned as Angel devoured him. Last night had been great, but in the back of his mind, Spike couldn’t help thinking that things really weren’t the same. As Angelus, he was all hands, grunts, moans and overwhelming power, but he’d seen none of that last night.

This was completely different.

Now, the smells of lust and desire rolled off of Angel in waves bigger than Angelus had ever produced. It was like everything Angel had pent up over the past seven hundred years was finally being let loose in one giant purge. An explosion of sex and passion. And Spike couldn’t get enough of it.

Angel trailed hard, nipping bites down Spike’s neck and he couldn’t help but cry out. They hadn’t even gotten to the bed yet and this was already a million times better than last night! Spike had finally broken through the layer of ice around the older vampire, and now he was reaping the benefits, and what benefits they were.

As Spike stood there under Angel’s vicious onslaught of passion, Angel was busy using his blunt, human teeth to raise a sizeable hickey on the blonde’s neck. Spike however, was not noticing; he was writhing and moaning at all the sensations assaulting him, but he wasn’t really there.

Angel stopped biting and looked up at Spike. “Stop brooding and pay attention!” He growled.

Spike smirked. “You’re tellin’ me to stop brooding? Isn’t that usually my line?” He chuckled. “Once upon a time, I guess it was.” Then he leaned in and actually started contributing.

Angel went back to his work planting a large bruise on Spike’s neck, but Spike wouldn’t hear of it. He grabbed Angel’s chin and forced their lips to meet, his dull teeth slicing open the soft flesh.

They both moaned when they tasted each other’s blood. Angel leaned back and broke the kiss, his eyes locking with Spike’s. They both nodded. “Bed,” they said. Angel wrapped his hand around Spike’s thin wrist and dragged him into the room, all but throwing him onto the bed.

Another blitz of passion began as they ground against each other, desperate for friction. They were already undressed, so there was no need to take off any clothes, now the only task that was left was finding where the lube had ended up…

Spike’s quick hands moved through the sheets, checked under the pillows and everywhere else he could think, all the while not breaking his mouth away from Angel’s. But when he came up empty, he had to say something. “Angel,” Spike moaned as Angel continued to grind against him. “Where’d the lube end up?” He panted.

Angel didn’t even stop to consider the question, he just reached over into the bedside table and grabbed another bottle. Spike rolled his eyes; after so many years of celibacy, why Angel had so much lube was beyond him.

But Spike abruptly stopped thinking as he felt two slick fingers slide into him. “Oh fuck me,” he moaned, throwing his head back. Angel smirked and attacked Spike’s neck again, going back to work on that hickey. Spike moaned again at the blunt teeth scraping at his neck. “Fuck, Angel!”

“Well,” Angel smirked against his neck. “That is the general idea.”

Spike didn’t have a chance to retort as those two fingers pushed in deeper and struck his prostate head on. He groaned and arched his back, trying to get as close to Angel as possible. “More!” Was the only word Spike could really say.

Angel worked quickly. He pulled the two fingers out of Spike’s hole and poured more lube into his hand. Spike moaned at the loss of contact, but Angel just rolled his eyes. “Keep your shorts on,” he mumbled.

Spike laughed. “Too late,” okay, time to shut Spike up, Angel thought.

All parts greased and ready, Angel threw the bottle of lube onto the floor and placed his hand behind Spike’s right knee. Rolling his hips back, Angel thrust home. Spike moaned at the contact and Angel gasped at the tight sensations surrounding his prick. Finally, he’d found where he belonged.

He just sat there for a moment, panting softly at all the feelings that were assaulting him. Then he felt a nudge against his shoulder and opened his eyes; Spike was glaring at him. “Move, damnit!” He growled.

“Okay,” he nodded and did just that.

Sliding his hips back, he thrust roughly inside of Spike, making them both moan loudly. Spike reached up and grabbed on to Angel’s shoulders for support. It almost felt like the world wasn’t real, and he just wanted to make sure this was actually happening. When he felt Angel’s strong muscles shifting under his grip, Spike knew that this was real, they were _really_ back together.

He thrust fast and hard, and soon, it was too much for them both. Just before Angel came, he stopped and looked down at Spike. “I love you,” he whispered.

Spike’s eyes flew open. He couldn’t believe that Angel just said that. Even when they were both working for the New Watchers Council and were back together, they’d never said those three important words. Back then, love was something that had died with their friends in LA, but this was different. They’d both been reawakened and love seemed like something they couldn’t live without.

So Spike didn’t hesitate as he reached up and pulled Angel closer. “I love you too,” he whispered. Angel smirked and leaned forward to press a kiss to Spike’s lips.

Seven hundred years between kisses, Spike could handle that, but seven hundred years between ‘I love yous’? Spike didn’t know how they’d both survived. Good thing that didn’t matter anymore. They were back, and Spike knew that whatever happened in the endless Eternity that faced them, they’d never be without each other again.

 

To be continued…


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is an old fic from livejournal that I'm posting here. Mostly because I'm bored. I've gone through it and edited a little, but it's mostly the same as it was, which is to say not as good as my current stuff. Still, I hope everyone enjoys.
> 
> Not mine, they all belong to Joss, and I'm not making any money off of this.

Spike sat in the library, watching Angel and Dezzy dart back and forth, ripping books down from the shelves and throwing them onto the table. Every once and a while, both men would stop and talk for a moment, always speaking too quickly for Spike to follow. After they talked, Angel would turn around and run back into the stacks, only to emerge with another armful of books, which he then laid on the table with all the rest.

Dezzy busied himself setting a computer up on the table. He kept muttering murderously about “stupid technology” and “why don’t the colored wires go with the same color outlet?” Spike offered to help, but Dezzy snapped at him not to interfere.

Now, Spike was sitting quietly at the table, watching the organized chaos in front of him. He’d been on the New London for a little over a week (most of that time was spent in bed with Angel, some spent touring the ship) and just this morning, Angel asked Spike to come down to the library. He had no clue why Angel and Dezzy were going mental and he hadn’t the foggiest about why he needed to be here to witness it. He was already uncomfortable because of the clothing Angel was making him wear (he wasn’t used to shoes anymore) and that squirmy feeling was made worse by Angel and Dezzy’s peculiar behavior.

After half an hour of watching the madness, Spike came to two conclusions: the first was that this must’ve been something like what Buffy was describing about her high school days in the library. Spike could see it very clearly: Giles running around, fretting over silly things, Xander being useless, Willow doing something clever with the computer and Angel brooding in a corner. Except, this time around, Angel was the one fretting, Dezzy had the computer, and Spike was very efficiently doing nothing useful, and brooding.

The second conclusion Spike had arrived at: he never should’ve gotten out of bed. In fact, he was going to go back right now. But before he could so much as move a single muscle, Angel pointed a menacing finger over at him. “Don’t even think about it,” he growled, not even looking up from his perusal of the shelves.

“Damn,” Spike grumbled and reluctantly slumped back in the chair.

Ten minutes later, Dezzy gave a loud cry of triumph. “Ha! Got it! We’re good to go, Angel!”

“Finally!” Angel’s voice called from somewhere deep in the stacks. He appeared with three more books and dropped them on the table with the others. He joined Dezzy and looked over his shoulder at the computer screen. “Is that the main database?”

Dezzy nodded. “Yup,” he smiled. “I’m so excited! This is the first time we’ve added new data in four years!”

Angel smiled back, patting the boy on the shoulder. “I know, this is the best I’ve felt in years!”

And that was it; Spike couldn’t take it anymore. “What in the bloody hell are you two going on about?” He snapped suddenly. “I’m tired of all this back and forth, all this ‘don’t touch anything, Spike, just wait a moment.’ No more waiting! What are you doing?”

Angel looked up from the computer screen and smiled at him. Spike flinched; he still wasn’t used to the whole smiling thing. He walked around to Spike’s side of the table and sat down in the chair next to him, resting his hands on the blonde’s knees. Spike gave him a skeptical look, but Angel ignored it. “I’m sorry we’re being so cryptic, but I don’t think you understand how exciting this is for us.

“About five years ago, some pseudo scientist,” Angel rolled his eyes “published an information tablet about how all the information in the Federation was already discovered; ever planet and system within the Federation’s reach had already been studied, analyzed, dissected and finally copied into Federation data banks. This guy said that—outside of the outer rim planets and systems that are beyond the Federation—there was nothing left to learn about ourselves, nothing new. He said it was the end of history.” Angel’s smile widened.

Spike arched an eyebrow. “Okay, I’ll bite. How did you prove this git wrong?”

Angel shook his head. “I didn’t prove him wrong, _you_ did! You’re the only non-Chloroplast to ever live on Sequoia. And you lived there for nearly a hundred years! You know more about that planet and that species than anyone else. In fact,” he pointed to the fifty-some-odd books sitting on the table. “You probably have more information than all those books combined!”

Spike looked at the books scattered on the table. “No,” he shook his head. “There’s gotta be fifty books there. I don’t think I know that much about anything.”

But Angel just shook his head. He took Spike’s hand and sighed heavily. “Okay, let me put this another way. You remember the shelf Dezzy showed you with the books about the council?” Spike nodded. “That’s five hundred books covering a two hundred year period of time. Those fifty volumes? That’s all the history we have for Sequoia. Its entire existence is contained in fifty books. That is nowhere near enough information!”

Spike looked back at the books and his eyes went wide. “Thirty-three billion years, and that’s it?” He couldn’t believe it.

“Yeah,” Angel nodded. “That’s it. And not a single one of those books says that the planet is thirty-three billion years old. They don’t really talk about history at all, they all focus more on plant life and ecosystems.”

“Seriously?” He really couldn’t believe it, but Angel nodded all the same. “But everyone on Sequoia knows that! A lot of them have family lines that go back to the burst that created the planet!

“Two stars in vector quadrant three collided and the resulting super nebula took thirty million years to cool and form the three planets in the system, Sequoia, Arbre, and Rotwald. They all circle the third star—Nexon—that managed to avoid the collision that created the system. Everyone knows that!” He insisted again.

Spike paused, looking from Dezzy—who was typing madly at the computer—then back to Angel, who was sitting there with his jaw hanging open, looking like he’d just had the best sex of his life. “What?” Spike snapped. “It’s not like that isn’t common stuff!”

But all Angel could do was shake his head. “Dezzy,” he whispered. “Did you get all that?”

Dezzy nodded. “Every punctuation mark.” He reread what he had just type and looked back up at Spike. “Is that thirty-three billion Federation years or years on Sequoia?”

“Sequoia years.” Spike did a quick calculation in his head. “In Federation years, it’s about twenty billion. Sequoia’s a smaller planet and it rotates around Nexon faster, making for shorter years.”

His eyes darted back to Angel—he looked like he was about to come in his pants. “What the hell is wrong with you!” Spike hissed.

Angel shook his head. “Nothing! This information… we’ve never known this much! It’s exhilarating! Why aren’t you more excited?”

“Because this information is very _basic_.” Spike sighed. “Saplings know this stuff! And now you’re almost creaming your pants over it?” He was very confused.

“What can I say,” he shrugged one shoulder. “I’m a librarian, new information makes me hot.” He smirked lewdly at Spike, but he wasn’t getting it.

“Last time I saw you, corsets, Victorian dress, studded leather collars—those were the things that got you off!” Spike gave Angel a look. “What the hell happened to you?”

“Dezzy,” Angel said quickly. “You heard nothing.”

“I’m sorry, did Spike say something?” Dezzy said, feigning ignorance. Spike could see the boy’s cheeks turning red and smirked.

“Spike,” the brunette whispered. He leaned in close, his lips brushing against Spike’s ear. “I’ve been the only immortal being in the Universe for over four hundred years. Learning was the only meaningful thing I could do with my time, and I _never_ learned any of the information you just told us. Do you know how big that is? I finally have you back, and not only do you make life worth living again, but you give me knowledge that I never thought I would have. That’s like having my cake and eating it too. Do you know how happy that makes me?”

He pulled back and smiled at Spike. Spike smiled back. “Dezzy, cover yer eyes.” He said.

“Okay,” the boy called back.

Spike didn’t even look to see if Dezzy was doing as asked, he just leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Angel’s lips. “I’m glad I can make you happy,” he mumbled into the kiss.

Angel nodded. “Me too.” Then he pulled back and sighed. “But we should get back to work. Do you mind telling us about Sequoia?”

“Sure,” he nodded. “I’ll tell you everything I know. Anything to make you happy.” Angel smiled and pressed another kiss to his lips before turning back to Dezzy. They had work to do.

“Okay,” Dezzy said, focusing on the computer screen. “Let’s start imputing population information. Now, everyone knows that there are two main races on Sequoia—”

“Six,” Spike interrupted.

Angel and Dezzy both looked over at him, mouths agape. “What?” Angel whispered.

“Six,” he repeated. “There are six major races on Sequoia. There used to be two, but when Sequoia first had contact with its sister planets—Arbre and Rotwald—the four different races mixed in with the two that were on Sequoia. Two, plus four, is six.” He looked from Angel to Dezzy. They were both still in shock. “Am I going too fast for you?”

“Dez,” Angel said. “Close your eyes again.”

As soon as Dezzy’s hand was over his eyes, Angel leaned forward again and kissed Spike, more frantic than before. His hands latched on to the collar of Spike’s shirt, holding the blonde still as Angel plundered his mouth. Spike had to grip onto the arms of the chair to keep from letting himself go. Since reawakening Angel’s passion and fire for life, all of the older man’s kisses seemed to claim him in a primal sort of way, even more intense than what Angelus and William the Bloody had together.

Suddenly, Angel broke the kiss and leaned back, smirking stupidly at Spike. “Yes?” Spike nearly panted. His brain was reeling from Angel’s attack of a kiss, so that was all he could really think to say.

He just shook his head. “I don’t think you understand how sexy this is, but trust me when I say that it is.” He let go of Spike’s shoulders and sat back in his chair. “Okay, Dezzy, open your eyes and let’s get back to work.”

They sat in the library, Spike telling Angel and Dezzy everything he could remember about his second home planet. As he sat there, Spike couldn’t help but notice that Angel’s hand kept a warm, heavy grip on his knee the entire time. He smirked to himself; when they got back to the apartment, he knew just what to do to get Angel’s pilot lit.

 

~

 

“Oh gods, free at last,” Spike moaned. As soon as the front door clicked shut, he started tearing at his clothes.

Angel chuckled as he watched the younger man reduce his shirt to tatters and practically rip his shoes and socks off. “I’m sorry,” he laughed. “I know you’re not used to the clothes anymore, but you have to wear them when we’re outside the apartment.”

Spike shrugged. “Well, we’re not outside of the apartment anymore, are we?” He moved to pull off his belt, but Angel grabbed his hand and stopped him. Spike sighed as if put upon. Well. He was.  “Angel!” He very nearly whined. “I’m not used to all this crap! Shoes, socks, belts, shirts, it’s not my style! Why can’t I just be me in here?”

Angel’s smile fell. He stepped forward and stroked his fingers over Spike’s cheek, and he leaned in to the soft touch. “You can be you when we’re in here, don’t ever think that you can’t,” he was kind of shocked that Spike would even think something like that.

Yet Spike wasn’t completely seduced by Angel’s attempts to soften him up. “You have but face,” he accused. He knew Angel very well, and he knew that he probably had a very good reason to keep Spike from getting naked right now.

“But,” Angel said. “Alistair invited us to have dinner with his family tonight, and we have to leave in an hour.” His hungry eyes roved over Spike’s bare chest and he tried to remember why he was stopping the blonde in the first place. “If I get you naked, we’re not getting out of here until tomorrow morning at the earliest.”

“Ah, yes,” he nodded. Spike’s first thought was right: it was a good reason. Was that going to stop him? No. In fact, now seemed to be the perfect time to enact the plan he’d formed in the library.

Spike now knew that Angel liked information. Though he was never really known for his brains, after a few hundred years, Spike came to know some things that no one else in existence knew. Time for some fun.

He pulled away from Angel and walked into the living room, sitting down on the couch and spreading his legs open, arms up across the back of the couch. “So,” he smirked. “Back in the library, you said that information got you hot.”

“Spike, no.” Angel said firmly. “We have to be out of here in an hour and we both know that anything we do together takes at least two.” He crossed his arms and leaned against the doorway into the living room, refusing to get any closer to Spike.

“Okay,” he shrugged. “I just thought you’d like to know what other kind of lost knowledge I have.” Angel’s smile fell and the blonde’s smirk grew wider. “Say, some of the lost data from the Russian Lunar Colony? We had to leave in a hurry, what with the Earth about to blow and all that. We didn’t get a chance to pack up some of our records. But,” Spike tapped his temple. “Built in vampire photographic memory. I can recite those reports exactly.”

“Are you saying,” Angel took a hesitant step towards the couch. “You can remember some of the reports that were lost when the Lunar Colony was evacuated?” Spike shook his head and Angel deflated a bit.

“Not some,” he whispered. “ _All_.” He leaned back, crossing his hands behind his head and smirking like the cat that got the cream. “I remember every single word on every single scrap of paper that ever crossed my desk.” Angel tried not to laugh at the mental image of Spike working at a desk. But the blonde continued.

“I remember cures we found that haven’t been rediscovered yet, energy technologies that we have now but could be more efficient.” He sighed happily. “It’s all right here in my head, all I have to do is tell you.”

As Spike spoke, Angel started inching closer and closer. His resolve was fading and they both knew that as soon as Spike started to spill this long-lost info, Angel would fold like a deck of cards.

He tried to think through everything that could happen, but Angel found that nearly impossible as all his blood was rushing down between his legs. Reluctantly, he whispered: “What do you want?”

Spike hid his smile, if he looked too smug, Angel might get second thoughts. “Just a little fun before dinner,” one of his talented hands pulled open his belt buckle and flicked the button fly of his shorts. Angel could see what kind of _fun_ he was looking for, pressing against the soft cotton of the boxers that he had made him.

Angel sighed, hanging his head. He knew Spike was manipulating him, but after all these years of being alone, he kind of liked having someone to manipulate him again. In a weird, really perverse way, it felt normal. “I give you a blow, and…?” He waited for Spike to fill in exactly what he wanted.

“You blow me, I blow you, quick shower, and then we’re ready for dinner.” He grinned lewdly as he watched Angel’s wheels spin. They were almost there.

He sighed again and nodded, dropping silently to his knees. “Just for the record,” Angel grumbled as he stripped Spike out of his shorts and underwear. “I hate you,”

“Hate you too, pet.” Spike whispered. And then he let himself go.

Angel looked down at Spike in his glorious nudity and sighed happily. He leaned forward and rubbed the soft flesh of Spike’s erection against his cheek. Spike moaned, his fingers curling into spiky brown locks. Angel smirked at how his simple gesture could please his lover so much.

He pulled back a bit and circled the tip of his nose around the exposed head of Spike’s prick. A shiver ran through the younger vampire and he tried to hold himself in check. Over the previous week, all their intimate moments had been in haste from the raw need created by so many centuries apart, this was the first time they could take everything slow and just enjoy the moment. And boy, was Spike enjoying. In fact, he was enjoying Angel’s gentle touches so much, part of him didn’t care if he even got a blow job.

Then Angel leaned forward and swallowed Spike’s dick whole, and Spike stopped thinking. He tossed his head back and moaned as Angel’s tongue swept under his foreskin, up his shaft, along that heavy vein and everywhere else. Spike didn’t know how he was doing it, but even in his haste, every movement seemed slow, caressing and wonderful. It had definitely been too long since they’d done this.

When Angel started to hum, Spike nearly lost it. The lively tune made him feel like he was levitating off the couch, but even with his mind melting in his head, Spike could still recognize that tune, it was from Angelus’ favorite opera: _Carmen_. It’s the tune William the Bloody  would always hum with his lips wrapped around Angelus’ erection. A little piece of their shared sexual past that neither man ever wanted to forget. Spike longed to voice his gratitude, but the words were lost in his throat, turned into helpless moans. Still, Angel understood.

Just three short minutes later, three minutes of mind-blowing head from the vampire he loved, Spike came. He clenched his fingers tightly in Angel’s hair and bucked into the brunette’s mouth. He could feel the muscles of Angel’s throat massaging the head of his prick, milking it for every drop he could.

Finally, when Spike had no more left to give, he slumped back onto the couch like a boneless mass. His brain dimly registered the sensation of Angel’s tongue cleaning and last trace of cum from his skin, but Spike couldn’t move. He felt a slight tugging at his ankles, but he still couldn’t move; he was pretty sure his brain had melted.

There was another tug at Spike’s ankles. “Spike?” Angel asked. He moaned in response. “You need to let go now,”

He gathered all his strength and looked down. Somehow, his legs had wrapped themselves around Angel, holding him rather tightly. “Oh, sorry.” Spike blushed a bit, unlocking his legs.

Angel smiled back up at him. “It’s okay, I’m glad you enjoyed.”

“Enjoyed?” Spike asked. “I’ll show you how much I _enjoyed_.” He reached forward and grabbed Angel’s collar, hauling him up and into a kiss.

His tongue darted between Angel’s lips, searching out any last traces of his own cum. Spike remembered that the taste of himself mixed with the sweetness of Angel kisses was something to behold, and as he searched greedily for what he missed so much, Angel was more than happy to let him.

He pulled back a moment later and rubbed his nose against Angel’s. “I love you,” he whispered.

Angel planted a small kiss on Spike’s lips, then kissed the blonde’s forehead, inhaling the clean scent of his hair. “I love you too,”

He chuckled. “We need to say that more often.”

“Definitely,” Angel agreed.

 

To be continued…


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting an old story from livejournal. I've done some editing, but nothing major.
> 
> Everything belongs to Joss, I'm making no money off of this.

“Damn you, we’re late!” Angel hissed as they hurried down the corridor towards Alistair’s unit.

“What?” Spike snapped back. “It’s not my fault that the Federation showers are so small.”

Angel didn’t even have to look, he could _hear_ the smirk. “Oh yes, and it was also not your fault when your fingers just happened to end up in my ass. That had nothing to do with you at all.” He rolled his eyes. “Now c’mon,” he reached back and grabbed Spike’s wrist, hauling him along faster.

“Hey! What’s the hurry?”

Angel growled and cast a dark look back at Spike. “Don’t you understand the concept of ‘late’?”

“Oh please,” Spike scoffed. “We’re not that late. And look!” They stopped in front of Alistair’s door. “We’re here. And, we’re knocking. See? Not late,”

The door swung open and Dezzy glared out at them. “You’re late,” he accused. He reached out and grabbed Angel’s arm, pulling him inside. Angel was still holding on to Spike, so he came in behind them.

As soon as he could, Spike wiggled his wrist away from Angel and started to pick at his clothes again. After they’d finished with their shower, Angel pulled out a new shirt and proceeded to manhandle Spike into it. Luckily, he did manage to negotiate the whole ‘shoe’ thing down to a pair of sandals, so at least his feet were mostly free. If he had it his way, Spike would be naked in bed with Angel right now.

While Spike fiddled with his clothes, Angel spoke with Dezzy. “Sorry. We got,” he glanced at Spike. “Side-tracked.”

“Yeah, I figured.” Dezzy nodded. “You’re lucky that JR is home or else mom would be pissed.”

“Dezmond!” A female voice sang. “Who was at the door?”

“Angel and his boyfriend!” Dezzy called back.

“Well, bring them in here, please!”

He nodded. “C’mon guys.”

Angel moved to follow the boy when Spike grabbed his arm. “Boyfriend?” He hissed, glaring at the older man.

Angel just smirked, reaching up and pinching Spike’s cheek. “It’s okay, we’ll talk about it later.” He walked past Spike into the living room.

“Oh, you bet your ass.” He grumbled, then followed Angel.

When they walked into the living room, Spike saw a smiling woman standing there to greet them. She had black hair, blue eyes and those same purple-blue scales that Dezzy had. The scales covered her entire body, her limbs were long and slender, and her tail was slightly shorter than Dezzy’s, but what surprised Spike was her face—she didn’t have the typical, pointed snake-like features that most of the known reptile species had, her face looked very human, just with a purple-ish tint.

“Mona,” Angel smiled. He let go of Spike’s hand and hugged the woman.

She squeezed him softly. “Oh, it’s been too long since we’ve had you over for dinner.” Her eyes darted over to Spike, then back to Angel. “Care to introduce me to your boyfriend?”

Angel ducked his head to hide his smile and stepped back towards the blonde. “Mona, this is Spike. Spike, this is Mona, Alistair’s wife.”

She reached forward and shook Spike’s hand. “So nice to meet you. Alistair and I have heard a lot about you,” she smiled. “All good, don’t worry.”

Spike tried to smile back, but his brain was too busy. Why didn’t Mona look like a normal reptile species? Why was everything on this ship in such blatant violation of Federation law? Spike couldn’t care less about what was legal or not, but he still couldn’t imagine Alistair getting away with all of this.

Mona saw Spike’s confusion and laughed. “I’m half and half,” she said. “My Father was a Komodo from Katar, he met my Mother on New Earth. They were in love! They didn’t care about that silly law.”

Spike shook his head. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be rude.” He looked her up and down again, concentrated on the warm feel of her hand in his. “I just don’t understand how you’re all getting away with this.”

Mona laughed again. “Would you like to meet my other son, JR? Sweetie! Come in here please!” She called over her shoulder.

A man in a Federation military uniform walked in from the dining room, stopping next to his mother. “Spike,” Mona smiled, placing her hand on her son’s shoulder. “I’d like you to meet Alistair Leeds Jr., Second Admiral and Junior Inspector for the Five Galaxies Federation.”

Spike’s jaw fell open as he looked at a younger version of Alistair. Angel chuckled at his reaction and leaned in to whisper in his ear. “JR has been doing our ten year inspection for the past two decades. See the value of nepotism?”

“Hello,” JR greeted, shaking Spike’s hand. “It’s nice to finally meet the man Angel has been telling us stories about for so many years.”

Spike shot an accusing glare at Angel. “Stories, eh?”

He laughed. “When I used to baby sit the kids, I’d tell them about our adventures back on Earth in the good old days.”

“Nothing too bad, don’t worry.” JR winked at Spike.

“How about we continue this over dinner?” Mona asked. She reached over and grabbed Spike’s hand. “Alistair and my other children are waiting.”

They followed Mona into the dining room. Alistair stood up from the table and shook Angel’s hand, then Spike’s. “Spike, these are my children. You’ve already met Dezzy and JR; this is Axel and Celia.”

They came forward and shook Spike’s hand. Spike studied them as well; like JR, they looked perfectly human. “They’re passing,” he heard Dezzy mumble. “I’m not.”

“Oh, shut up, Dezzy,” Celia scoffed, giving her brother a nudge. “You’re perfect just the way you are."

“Let’s sit,” Mona said quickly. Spike could tell that she’d been having this particular argument with her children for years and she was tired of dealing with it.

They all sat down at the table while Mona and Celia brought out the food. Celia came over to Angel and Spike and poured them glasses of blood. “The plates are there if you want to try some of the food,” she explained to Spike. She leaned down and whispered into the blonde’s ear. “And I do recommend that you try the Kitz-Zu, it’s the best on Katar.”

Spike looked at the noodle dish and smirked. “I haven’t had good Kitz-Zu in decades!”

As Spike reached forward and served himself a bit of the food, Angel sipped his blood and smiled. He loved that Spike—his first family—was getting along so well with his second family. An eternity that had looked so bleak just a week and a half ago was now looking brighter than ever.

Dinner went on pleasantly. Spike answered everyone’s questions about his life before the New London. He gracefully glossed over the unpleasant end to his life on New Earth and focused more on his work in the Russian Lunar Colony; Alistair and Axel were very interested in the alternate energy technologies that they were experimenting with.

“You see!” Axel said triumphantly. “The Federation needs to embrace these alternate power sources! Drilling all around, destroying every new planet for old fossil fuels is not the way it should be done!”

“Exactly,” Spike agreed. He’d been discussing the environment with Axel for a good fifteen minutes now, his food all but forgotten on his plate, his blood cooling in the glass. “I hate that the Federation is just going along with these stupid human tendencies! You know, the human race makes up barely even half of a half of a half of a percent of the population of the Federation planets, but they control twenty percent of the Federation’s government seats!”

“0,21 of a percent, to be exact,” JR added. “I’ve been considering getting solar panels for the ship, but they would want to use a Federation sanctioned company. As soon as I put the order in, the Federation will send their own construction crew, and…” he trailed off and his eyes darted towards Mona and Dezzy.

“We can’t risk that,” Alistair said softly.

Without a word, Dezzy stood up from the table and stalked off into the living room. “Damnit,” Axel sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.

“He’s at it again,” JR mumbled, turning his attention back to his food.

Mona reached out and touched Spike’s hand. “I’m sorry you had to see that. Dezmond is a little… _sensitive_ about his heritage.”

“He doesn’t like that he can’t pass like the rest of us,” Axel said.

“Shut up, Axel,” Celia snapped at her brother. “Leave him alone. He just hates that we can get off of this damn ship and he can’t.”

A tense silence filled the room and Spike could feel the weight of the twenty-year argument this family was engaged in. He didn’t know how, but Spike thought that he might be able to fix it.

He stood up from his chair and smiled around at everyone. “If you’ll just excuse me,”

Angel reached up and caught Spike’s arm. “You don’t need to do this. He’ll cool off, he always does.”

“Yeah, Dez always gets like this when we’re all home.” JR said.

Spike shrugged. “Still, I think I can help.”

He pushed his chair in and walked into the living room. There, Spike found Dezzy sitting on the couch, brooding down at his shoes. Ah, what a familiar picture this was, Spike thought. “Hey,” he whispered.

Dezzy looked up at him and sighed heavily. “Sorry,” he whispered.

Spike shrugged and sat down next to the boy. “It’s alright. Families can make ya nuts.” He looped his arm over Dezzy’s shoulders and hugged him. “Here I was thinkin’ that my family was complicated. My Sire was a manipulative prick, my mate was stark raving out of her gourd, my—and I use this title _loosely_ —brotherwas on his own level of jerk, and my Grand Sire… let’s just say that the phrase ‘vicious bitch’ is an understatement. I always thought that a crazier household couldn’t be found if ya searched the Universe for it.”

“Well, you found it.” He laughed hollowly. “I love my brothers and my sister, but I can’t stand that they can pass when I can’t.

“I mean, look at them! JR is a Federation Admiral and inspector, second in line to captain this ship; Celia is a Federation ambassador to Katar; and Axel is the head of his own green power construction company! What do I do? I’m assistant record keeper and technically, I don’t exist on this ship. And neither does my mother.”

Dezzy sighed again and hung his head. “I always wondered why I drew the genetic short straw. Alex and JR have scales on their backs, and Celia has scales on her legs. They can cover them up. I can’t.”

“Well, I don’t know what to say,” Spike shrugged. “I just think that maybe you need your own space on the ship. Get your own apartment on another level— _not_ the captain’s quarters—and maybe you’ll feel more in control of your life. It’s worth a shot.”

Back in the dining room, Angel was trying not to listen to Spike’s conversation with Dezzy. He knew that the blonde was very capable, but he still wanted to know what Spike was saying to his young assistant. It was curiosity more than anything else that made him want to listen in.

“Angel,” Mona said quietly. “What can you hear?”

He shook his head and looked back at the others. “I shouldn’t be listening.” He took a sip from his glass. “Spike knows what he’s doing and I should trust him with it. He’ll help Dezzy, don’t worry.”

“You boys shouldn’t tease him like that,” Mona reproached her sons. “Especially in front of guests. Be thankful that Spike didn’t care about your rudeness.”

“Sorry Mother,” they whispered. They both knew how strict their mother was and dared not cross her, Angel was surprised that they went as far as they did.

“Don’t worry about anything, Mona.” Angel reached out and squeezed her hand. “Spike knows about being the baby and he’s had to deal with a lot of flak from the rest of the family. So trust me, he knows what Dezzy’s going through.”

Everyone had settled down and started eating again when the voice of the Federation computer spoke. “ _Call for you, Captain_.” The soft, female voice said.

“Mona, other room.” He whispered quickly. She got out of her chair and walked into the living room. She was technically illegal, so she always had to hide when Federation call came in.

When she was gone, Alistair turned around and looked at the screen. “Go ahead, computer.”

The screen flicked on and there was an image of a man in a Federation military uniform. He looked around the table quickly. “Sorry for interrupting dinner, Alistair.” His eyes landed on Angel and his smile fell. “Oh, Angel, I didn’t know you’d be here.”

“Nonsense, Blaze! Angel is one of the family! Now what can I help you with?” Alistair smiled.

Blaze looked away from the screen, busying himself with the papers on his desk. “I was rather hoping that you wouldn’t be here, Angel. I have some… bad news.” He still wouldn’t look at the screen. “We just got some new information about your ship. Ten days ago, the New London was going by Stiven-4 and picked up four prisoners. Only three were let off on Stiven-1 for processing.”

“Yes,” Alistair nodded. “Angel already spoke to me about this. The fourth man was an old friend of his and Angel paid his fine. He wasn’t even involved in the incident of Stiven-4, just an innocent bystander that got caught up in the riot. The fine was paid. Is there an issue with it?”

Blaze ignored the question. “His allergy bracelet was checked before Angel paid the fine. His name is William the Bloody, commonly known as Spike.”

“Yeah,” Angel said. “I know, he’s immortal like me. I’ve known him for nearly a thousand years and he’s a good man, no trouble for the New London or the Federation. So what’s the problem, Blaze?” Angel asked, his voice suddenly very serious. Blaze was a long time friend, and as the head of the Federation’s Starfleet, he and Angel were reasonably close. The fact that Blaze seemed to be holding something back made him very uneasy. “Blaze,” he said sternly. “What’s going on?”

Blaze finally looked up, his eyes locking with Angel’s. “Eighty-six years ago, Spike killed three Federation soldiers. There’s been a warrant for his arrest out since 2699. Now that we’ve found him, we have to pick him up.”

Angel ground his teeth together, trying to fight the urge to yell at him. “There were mitigating circumstances.” He managed to growl out. “Those soldiers killed his family!”

“And they would have been court marshaled if Spike had come to the Federation and reported it. When he took the law into his own hands, he became the criminal.” Blaze said.

“Spike is a very emotional person,” Angel growled, his voice getting louder. “He came home to find his family murdered by some bastards seeking oil, and he saw red! He did what anyone else would’ve done!”

“It doesn’t matter,” he whispered. “I’m sending two inspectors and a few troops to come get Spike.” He looked away from Angel again. “If you tell us where he is, we won’t charge you as an accomplice.”

Angel shook his head. “I don’t know where he is,” he lied. “Spike is a free spirit—I told him he could explore the ship a bit before he left.” He thought fast. “We were planning on letting him off on Gresk tomorrow afternoon.”

“Right,” Blaze nodded. He knew that Angel was lying, but he didn’t call the vampire out on it. Angel was only protecting his family and he wouldn’t fault him for that. Now, to give Alistair that same chance. “Our men will be there tomorrow at oh-nine-hundred hours. You’ve got fourteen hours. Clean your house, Alistair.” Angel could tell that he regretted what he had to do, but he really couldn’t care. Blaze was trying to take away his family. That was not going to happen.

But Alistair didn’t seem the least bit panicked. “Thank you,” he whispered. Blaze nodded and the screen went blank.

As soon as Blaze was gone, Angel stood up from the table and tore into the living room. “Spike!” He shouted.

Spike shot up from the couch and ran to Angel, holding his hands tightly. “Mona said there was a problem.” Obviously, she didn’t know how big the problem was or he would’ve already hit the roof.

“Yeah,” Angel nodded. He had every intention to tell Spike what was going on, but as soon as he saw the worry in the blonde’s eyes, he grabbed him and held him close. “We have a big problem,” he whispered.

Spike looked around. Alistair and the others had come in from the dining room and they were standing strangely close to Mona and Dezzy. Mona reached for Dezzy, holding her youngest son tightly. Spike could see tears in her eyes.

He wrenched himself out of Angel’s arms and glared up at the taller man. “What’s going on?” He asked.

Angel reached forward and took Spike’s hands again. “When they brought you on the ship they checked your allergy bracelet.”

Spike looked down at his left wrist and the silver bracelet gleamed back at him. “I’m the only known being with an allergy to any kind of sunlight.” He whispered. “This bracelet is one of a kind. They’d be able to find me anywhere.”

“Yeah,” Angel nodded. “They found your record. Apparently there’s been a warrant out for your arrest since 2699. Now that you’ve been found again, the Federation is sending a few troops to come and get you. You’ll be arrested and probably executed.”

Spike snorted softly and Angel glared death at him. “Oh, c’mon.” He sighed. “Do you know how many times I’ve been scheduled for execution? Too many to count, and the Federation hasn’t gotten me yet!” He looked around at Alistair, Dezzy, Mona and the others, then back to Angel. “But if they come here and find Dezzy and Mona, and whatever other violations are taking place on this ship, they’ll be in more trouble than I could ever imagine.”

He squeezed Angel’s hand tightly. “I know that this is your home, I know that you love it—believe me, I love it too—but if you want to keep it safe, we need to leave.”

Angel shook his head. “But they’re already coming. If we leave, they’ll still come to find us and discover everything!” His mind was reeling. In the space of a week and a half, he had found his greatest happiness and his greatest despair. Everything was moving too fast and Angel just wanted time to stop so he could think. But that wasn’t an option right now, he had to choose between his lover and his home. That was not a choice Angel wanted to make.

“Alistair,” Mona said suddenly. “Call Blaze back—tell him that Angel and Spike have fled.” She hugged Dezzy closer. “If they’re not here, there’s no reason for them to come, no reason for them to find Dezzy.” She didn’t care about herself, she only wanted to keep her son safe.

Spike whirled around and looked at Alistair, hoping against hope that Mona was right. “Would that work?”

Alistair shrugged. “It’s worth a shot.”

“Wait!” Angel snapped. His brain had finally caught up with what was happening. “I can’t leave! This is my home! I’ve been here for almost fifty years—I-I can’t leave now!” He was starting to panic. “I was Alistair’s best man. I watched Mona give birth to JR! I delivered Celia, Axel and Dezzy! I’m Dezzy’s Godfather! This is my family—my home! I can’t just leave them!”

“Angel,” Spike reached up and cupped his Sire’s face in his hands. “Everything you just said, those are very good things, and I would never want to take you away from your home, but as soon as the Federation comes here, those four little babies that you held in your arms are going to be in trouble.

“First the Federation is going to strip Alistair of his rank, arrest him and throw him in jail for the rest of his life, then they’re going to execute Mona, JR, Celia, Axel and Dezzy.” He pulled Angel close, pressing their foreheads together. “If you want to keep them safe, we can’t stay here.”

Spike sighed and closed his eyes, trying to keep his tears at bay. “I know it was only a few days ago, but I gave up my life for you, won’t you do the same for me?”

Angel didn’t even have to think about that. “In a heartbeat!” Without a care for who was watching, he pressed a quick kiss to Spike’s lips and pulled him closer. “Faster than that! Zero to sixty light years in warp ten!” Spike smirked at the nearly impossible speed.

“So what’s the problem?” He asked. “Why don’t you want to leave?”

Angel looked around at his second family and the tears he’d been holding back finally spilled. “I don’t know when I’d ever see you again,” he whispered to Alistair.

Alistair shrugged. “If we knew where you were, we would visit.”

“Definitely,” Celia nodded.

“That’s another thing!” Angel looked back at Spike. “Where would we go? How would we go? As soon as Blaze sent that communication, he probably locked us down! We’re floating dead in space with no way off!”

“At thirteen hundred hours, when you were still in the library, we stopped over Sequoia.” Axel said quietly. “I was in the system studying some of the plant life and I needed a pick up to be here for dinner. Spike, you said that you lived on Sequoia, right?”

“Yeah,” Spike nodded.

And then Alistair started giving orders. “Dezzy, go to Angel’s apartment and use his controls to jettison one of the emergency escape pods. Even if they’ve locked us down, those emergency pods will still work. Have it set a course for New Earth.” Dezzy nodded and ran out.

Alistair turned to Mona and Celia. “Pack them a bag with a quart or two of blood in it and a few necessary communication devices. We’ll cover our tracks and report them stolen. Celia, destroy the tracking chips in whatever equipment she gets.” He looked to Axel and JR. “Axel, hit your brother. JR, hit him back. We’ll say that Angel fought you to escape.”

“Right,” Axel said, immediately turning and swinging at his brother. He split JR’s lip and JR struck back, breaking Axel’s nose.

All Angel and Spike could do was stand there and watch. “What the hell?” Angel whispered.

“Listen,” Alistair said very gravely. “You two need to get out of here. I’ll call Blaze back and tell him you snapped, attacked JR and Axel and stole and escape pod with Spike. You’re headed to New Earth with some stolen communications equipment.”

Spike accepted the bag Mona and Celia gave them. Angel, however, was still confused. “What?” He hissed. “What is happening, Alistair!”

“Son,” Alistair sighed. He pushed Spike out of the way and grabbed Angel’s chin, locking their eyes together. “I know that you’re a thousand years old, but you’ve always been a part of this family. I love you like I love my children and I don’t want you to leave, but you have to or we will all die.”

He let go of Angel and took a step back. “Now I’m going in there to call Blaze back and tell him you’re gone. You’d better be so when I come back in here.” Alistair turned and walked into the dining room, JR and Axel following him, wiping at their bloody faces.

“We’ll give you some privacy,” Celia said. She took her mother’s hand and they disappeared into another room, keeping Mona protected from being seen.

Then it was just Spike and Angel. Silence stretched through the apartment and Spike and Angel could hear Alistair’s conversation with Blaze.

“They’re gone,” Alistair said frantically.

“Really?” Blaze didn’t sound convinced.

“What? You don’t believe me? Just because Angel is my friend doesn’t mean I would help him aide a criminal! And look what he did to my boys!”

“Alright, Alistair! I believe you. Do you know where they’re going?”

“A moment after Angel ran out, the controls in his unit were used to eject an escape pod. It set a course for New Earth.” Spike was kind of amazed. Alistair actually sounded angry.

“New Earth?” The doubt was back. “That’s in the same system as the Federation home planet. Why would they go so close to Federation Headquarters? Wouldn’t that pose more danger?”

“Angel is very smart,” JR said. “And I’ve heard this Spike fellow is rather intelligent as well. They know that they should hide in the exact place the Federation won’t look for them: right under the Federation’s nose! I wouldn’t be surprised if they set up right next to the jail they’re supposed to be rotting in!” He sounded angry too.

“Alright,” Blaze sighed. “I never thought Angel would do this.”

“Spike is his oldest friend,” Alistair said. “Who knows what lengths he would go to?”

“Alistair,” Blaze said seriously. “Is this really the story you’re going with?”

“Yes,” he said without hesitation.

“Okay, I’ll turn the troops around and send them to New Earth. Good night Alistair.”

When the call disconnected, Angel looked up at Spike. “This is serious,” he whispered. Spike nodded. “Okay,” suddenly, Angel lunged forward and pressed a needy kiss to Spike’s lips. “Whatever happens,” he whispered hastily. “You were worth it.”

Spike nodded. “You were always worth it.”

Spike gave Angel one more quick kiss, then grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the apartment. They ran down the corridors to the nearest transport. Imputing the coordinates for the one city on Sequoia, Spike held Angel tightly as the older vampire abandoned all he knew in favor of a life with Spike.

 

To be continued…


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting something old from lj. From back when I wrote Buffy the Vampire Slayer fanfiction. I've touched it up a bit, but it's still very much the same. Enjoy!
> 
> Not mine, not making any money.

The transported dropped them in the middle of a forest. Angel was completely disoriented, but Spike knew exactly where they were; he looked to the west, through the thinning trees and saw Sequoia’s only city: Cypress.

He took a deep breath, smelling the lovely aromas of the planet he missed so much. The soft sounds of the forest were so familiar and comforting… it almost felt like he’d never left. Then he heard something different: ragged, panicked breaths. “Angel,” Spike hissed.

He turned around and saw the older vampire leaning against a nearby tree, his eyes darting wildly around the forest. His chest rose and fell rapidly with his frantic breathing and his skin was more than a little green.

“Angel,” Spike said again. He rushed over to the other man and lowered him to the forest floor. “I know it’s a lot happening all at once, but try to calm down.” He touched Angel’s cheek and gasped. He was burning up. “Angel? Are you running a fever? How is that possible? You don’t have a body temperature!”

Angel brought his hand up and covered Spike’s, pulling him close. “I-I-I-” he stammered. “I don’t know how to h-ha-handle this!” His eyes spun in their sockets as he tried to look at everything, from the trees surrounding them, to the green canopy, to the light glow of the system’s star. It was all so new and all so confusing. The life Angel had known was gone. Really gone.

“I think I’m gonna be sick,” he whispered, then leaned over and vomited in a nearby bush.

“Shush,” Spike cooed softly. He rubbed Angel’s back soothingly as he threw up Mona’s dinner, blood painting the mix red. “It’s okay,” Spike said again.

Finally, the ugly noises made by Angel’s lost food stopped and turned to dry heaves. He had nothing left to give. “No,” Angel gasped, still heaving and gasping. “It’s not,” he leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes. It didn’t help, the forest kept spinning.

“I know this is a lot, and I’m sorry.” Spike kissed Angel’s cheek, trying to bring some normalcy to the situation. “There’s a place we can stay in the city, hopefully that’ll ease you into everything.”

He shook his head again, going a little greener. “No, that’s not what I mean.” He opened his eyes and drew his panicked gaze up to Spike’s. “I haven’t been on a planet in four hundred years.” Angel closed his eyes again, like he was fighting another urge to be sick. “I can’t deal with gravity anymore.”

“Don’t worry.” Spike said. “Sequoia is small with lower gravity than most planets, so you’ll only feel a little heavier than you do under the New London’s simulated gravity. You’ll get used to it in a few days.”

Avoiding the pool of bloody vomit, Spike sat down next to Angel and grabbed his hands, rubbing his fingers softly over the cool skin. “We’ll rest here for an hour before heading into the city. The canopy is thick enough to block out the sun in the forest, but it’s thinner in Cypress, so we have to be careful.”

“Cypress?” Angel asked dumbly.

“Yeah,” he pointed through the trees. “The only city, I told you about it this morning.”

“This morning…” it seemed so far away. Angel’s long, drawn out eternity had jumped to warp speed without his noticing. He’d lost his job, his home and the life he had known, and what did he have to show for it?

“Angel,” Spike said softly. “You’re having a panic attack, and that’s okay. This is what comes with all the good emotions. If you let the good in, that means the bad is back too. You’ve been so numb for so long that you aren’t used to the pain anymore, but the pain is worth it, trust me.” He reached up and rested his hands on Angel’s shoulders, shaking him gently to get a reaction—any reaction.

After a few more minutes of Angel’s catatonia, Spike was getting worried. He gave one last half-hearted shake. “Love?” He asked.

Angel felt a cool hand against his cheek and he finally snapped out of it. Blue eyes locked with his and he saw what he still had: Spike. He still had the home, the family, the life and the love he’d lost so long ago. Giving up his life on the New London wasn’t really giving up anything, it was just trading one life for another.

With all that had happened this week—hell in the past twelve hours—Angel saw everything he knew erased and rewritten several times over. All except for Spike. Spike was the constant inconstant, forever there, but always changing. The Spike Angel had known back in the late eighteen hundreds was young, impulsive, passionate and dangerous. The vampire who’d fought against him in Sunnydale was evil, jealous and vindictive, but still passionate. The newly-soul-ed Spike who returned to LA as a ghost was inherently good and righteously passionate about doing the right thing. When they’d gone back to sharing a bed after the end of Wolfram & Hart, Spike was intense, focused, standoffish, and subtle in his passion for life. Now, this Spike was mature, serious, intelligent and absolutely sure of what he was doing, and best of all: that passion was still there. No matter how Spike had changed over the centuries, there was that common string of passion that tied all those different incarnations of Spike together. He used that passion to bring Angel back to life. And he sure as hell wasn’t going to waste that second chance.

Angel reached up and cupped Spike’s face. Looking deep into those blue eyes, he whispered: “Kiss me?”

Without a second thought, Spike leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Angel’s lips. He didn’t seem to care about the smell of stomach acid that was still fresh in his mouth, the blood that clung to his lips or the sheen of sweat that remained from Angel’s panic attack. He just kissed without a care in the world.

When he pulled back, Angel shook his head. “How do you do that?” He asked.

Spike arched his scarred eyebrow. “Do what?”

“How do you love so intensely? Like there’s nothing else that matters?” Tears were starting to choke Angel’s voice. Emotions he’d been ignoring for hundreds of years were now pulling him in a hundred different directions and Angel could barely keep up with the mood swings.

He just shrugged. “Because there is nothing else that matters.” He said like it was the simplest thing in the Universe. “All the petty little shit in life stops being important when you love someone. I know it sounds cliché, but love really is the only thing in life that’s worth a damn.

“So you’re life’s in the shitter, so everything you know is lost. So bloody what? As long as someone’s there with you to make the endless endlessness less lonely, that’s all ya need.” He twined his fingers with Angel’s and gave a small smile. “So if you think I don’t want to kiss you after you gave your lunch the ol’ heave-ho, then you’re an idiot.

“Just a week or so ago—you may recall—I said I would give up everything for you. And I did! Because I don’t need anything other than someone to love. News flash: that’s _you_. Hell, we could be living in a shoebox apartment on New Earth, but as long as you and me are a ‘we,’ I wouldn’t care.” He kissed Angel’s blood-stained lips to prove his point. “Understand now?”

“Yeah,” Angel nodded tearfully. “I understand.” He kissed Spike’s hand and looked around again, this time, taking in the exciting newness of this world.

Angel had no taste for planet living anymore because it led to permanent friendships, but this was… well, it was nice. The constant hum of technology was gone and everything was a beautiful shade of living green. As Angelus, he’d always preferred to be surrounded by beautiful pieces of natural wood furniture, so Angel never really knew how he let himself get trapped and boxed in by cold, metal components. Maybe it would be easy to get used to life here.

“So, what now?” Angel asked.

“Now,” Spike smiled. “We wait until the light is a bit lower and walk right into Cypress. It isn’t as technologically modern as anything on the New London, but it’s not exactly the third world either.”

Angel shrugged. “Doesn’t matter where we are, I’m good as long as you’re there.”

“Aw, that would be sweet if I hadn’t just said it.” Angel’s smile fell and the blonde laughed. “I’m just kidding pet.” He leaned in and gave another quick kiss.

“I have a friend—Vald—he and his family live in the city. We can probably stay with them until we set up somewhere permanent.” Spike said.

“How do you know they’re still there?”

Spike just shrugged. “Because they are,” he said simply.

“Right,” obviously, Spike’s planning skills hadn’t improved as much as Angel had hoped. “And what’s our backup plan?”

“Ha, that’s cute.” The younger vampire smirked. “We don’t need a backup plan. They’re there. Trust me,” another kiss, just to be sure.

“Spike,” he sighed. “Stop placating me with kisses! We need to figure this out! We’re starting over on a new planet,” Spike gave him a look and Angel rolled his eyes. “Okay, a new planet for me, and we need to know how to survive here!”

“For example?” Spike prodded

“For example,” Angel picked up the bag that Spike had abandoned. “We have two quarts of blood. After that’s gone, what do we eat? From what you’ve told me, the Chloroplasts have sap for blood. We can’t live on that!” He paused. “Not that I’m planning on hunting the Chloroplasts, but still.” Why wasn’t Spike thinking about these kinds of basics? Angel knew that he was excited to be back on his home planet, but these things needed to be done.

But Spike just smiled. “Angel,” he said slowly. “Take a second to look around.” Angel didn’t move. “Take a look around,” he repeated. “And this time, listen.”

“Alright,” Angel sighed. His eyes fell closed and he concentrated on the sounds of the forest. Birds sang in the trees, a soft breeze ruffled the leaves, insects skittered along the ground and somewhere, deep in the forest, Angel could hear…

His eyes snapped open. “A heartbeat!”

Spike smirked. “Yup. And you wanna know something else? Chloroplasts don’t have heartbeats. Not really. Their blood is circulated through their bodies the same way an Earth plant would draw nutrients from soil, so it makes a sort of gulping noise—very much not like a heartbeat.”

Angel could tell that he was being drawn towards some sort of conclusion. “So what is that?” He sniffed the air, but got nothing; there were too many new things and he couldn’t isolate anything specific.

Spike laughed. “Look around!” He said again, gesturing around to the trees. “We’re in a jungle! We have jungle-type animals.

“You remember jungles from Earth, yeah? Jaguars, panthers, monkeys, all that sort—they’re all here!” He paused. “Well, not exactly those animals, but they’re damn close! When Janna and I first settled here, I could scarcely tell a Yagwa from a panther! Granted, Yagwa pelts are a bit greener, but you get it.”

Angel was very confused. “When did you ever have panther blood?”

He gave Angel another look. “Back on Earth, I lived in the rain forest for a grand total of two years. I practically lived off panther blood.”

“Oh, okay.” He looked around again and listened a bit harder, trying to get count of how many animals were around them. “I didn’t think it would be that simple.”

Spike shrugged. “Well, if panther’s not to yer tastes, we could always hop over to Arbre, they’ve got bears! Or, kind of like bears, taste just the same.”

“Bears?”

“Yeah,” Spike smirked. “Sequoia has rain forest-like conditions, Arbre is deciduous forest, and Rotwald has both.” He leaned forward and rested a hand on Angel’s leg. “So whatever you want, you can have it!”

Angel chuckled. “Like lions?” Spike nodded. “Tigers?” He nodded again. “And bears?”

“Oh my,” he smirked.

Angel couldn’t help but laugh. These were life changing events, but Spike was not flagged by it, not one little bit. Just another thing that made Spike the constant inconstant.

Suddenly, Angel giggled to himself. “You’re like Pi.”

Spike arched an eyebrow. “Okay then,” he gave Angel’s hand a pat. “I think the gravity is makin’ you a bit loopy.”

He grabbed Angel’s hands and pulled him off the ground, away from the pool of sick and over to a soft patch of moss. He laid down and pulled Angel with him. Angel automatically wrapped his arms around Spike and held him close. “What now?” He whispered.

“Now?” Spike rubbed his nose up Angel’s cheek, the movement soft and comforting to both men. “Now, we’re going to lay here for another hour or so, then we’re going to walk into the city, right up to Vald’s door. He’s gonna be happy to see me after so long, sad about Janna, and then he’ll welcome us to stay. So don’t worry pet,” he kissed Angel again. “Because everything’s gonna be okay.”

“You know what?”

“Huh?”

“I believe you.”

He kissed Spike again, this time, with more passion and desperation than the soft kisses the blonde had been giving out like penny candy. Again, Spike didn’t care about the stomach acid and bile still coating Angel’s tongue, he just kissed with everything he had. And Angel really knew that they were going to be okay.

 

~

 

When the forest had gone almost completely dark, Spike deemed it time for them to get going. Hand in hand, they walked through the woods, Spike leading the way. It only took them a few minutes to reach the city.

As soon as Angel saw Cypress, he stopped cold. “Wow,” he whispered.

Cypress wasn’t much like the city he’d imagined, rather, it was like a clearing in the woods—a very large clearing. Angel couldn’t even see the end of it. There were no roads that he could make out, but there was a definite path winding its way through the city. The clearing was surrounded by some of the tallest trees he’d ever seen, and the leaves of those trees made up the thinner canopy of the city. Spike was right when he said the leaves were thinner here; back in the forest, Angel thought night had fallen, but here it still looked like dusk.

In the center of the city, Angel saw more trees, shorter than the ones surrounding Cypress, but wider than the trees in the forest. They had giant knotholes going up their trunks and Angel could see light and hear movement coming from inside the trunks. “Houses?” He whispered to himself.

“Yup,” Spike smiled. He took Angel’s hand and started pointing everything out.

“This is Brook Street, the main residential street. And ya see that turn way down there?” Spike pointed to a bend in the path and Angel nodded. “That’s Willow’s Cross, the other residential street.” He turned, pulling Angel with him. “That street over there is Cypress Avenue, the main business street. That’s where all the shops are. Right next to that is Juniper Lane, where the school is. And this…” Spike tugged excitedly at Angel’s hand and drew him farther into the city.

They stopped in front of a massive tree, both taller and wider than any other tree in the city. Angel craned his neck to try and see the top of it, but it seemed to go on forever. There was a giant clock carved into the front of the tree and a calendar with the date in Sequoia time and Federation time.

“Wow,” Angel whispered again.

Spike smirked. “I know.” He sighed happily. “This is the Life Tree.”

“Life Tree?” Surely Angel couldn’t be the only one to see the similarities.

Spike chuckled. “Minus the Forbidden Fruit and the Serpent.

“This is the absolute center of everything on Sequoia. It gives standard time too. Arbre and Rotwald have their own life trees, and this is ours.” He smiled widely.

Angel was mystified. The blend of technology and nature here was breathtaking! He’d always thought that the two forces had to be at odds with each other, but here they seemed to work in harmony, as one never-ending circuit in which one could not survive without the other.

“How’d you guys get it to do that?” Angel asked.

Spike’s grin widened. “We didn’t.” He looked back up at the tree and sighed happily. “As history goes, the first inhabitants found it like this. The clock was already there—it only had the Sequoia date, of course— and they didn’t do anything to it. The city was already here too! It was like the planet was waiting for someone to come live here!”

“Thirty-three billion years and nothing’s changed?” Angel couldn’t believe it.

“Well, things have changed.” Spike pointed up to the canopy. “When Cypress was first discovered, the canopy was about a hundred meters up. Now it’s about a kilometer and a half.”

Angel looked up. “Wow,” he seemed to be saying that a lot today.

He looked back at the Life Tree, studying the double calendar. “But how did you add the Federation calendar?”

Spike smirked again. “Wedidn’t!” Angel arched an eyebrow in confusion. “The way the history books tell it, as soon as Sequoia was recognized by the Federation, it just grew in! The tree just knew.”

“How?”

Spike laughed. “Here, check this out.” He grabbed Angel’s hand and pulled him down to the ground, pressing his hand to the warm, soft dirt. “You feel that?” Spike asked. Angel closed his eyes and concentrated. His fingers gripped the dirt a bit more tightly and he tried to feel what Spike was talking about.

Suddenly, another heartbeat reached Angel’s ears. It wasn’t like the animals he’d heard in the jungle, it was larger, stronger, more alive. And this heartbeat was thumping right underneath his fingers. He opened his eyes and looked up at the Life Tree, and it suddenly clicked together. “It’s the heart of the city,” he whispered.

Spike shook his head. “Close. It’s the heart of the planet.” Angel’s eyes went wide.

He stood up, pulling Angel with him; they walked closer to the tree and Spike laid his hand against the bark. “Sequoia isn’t like Earth,” he said simply. “Towards the end, the Earth was just a floating chunk of rock. Once upon a time, everything was connected, but humans and their technology destroyed the place, severed every connection and left the Earth a dull, lifeless pile of rock.

“But this,” his fingers caressed the tree lovingly, like an old friend. “This tree is the heart of Sequoia. It beats, it lives, it connects everything to everything else. It’s what keeps our streams flowing, our forests growing. It makes our lives worth living! It reminds us that we’re not just part of the planet, the planet is part of us.”

He let his hand fall away from the trunk and looked back at Angel. “Now do ya see why I love this place?”

Angel nodded. “Because you belong here,” he smiled.

“Vampires are creatures caught in the middle—we look like humans, but we’re demons inside.” He reached up and cupped Spike’s cheek. “You and I especially can’t fit in. We’ve had human souls for hundreds of years. Humans die, but we don’t. We can’t die because we’re not really alive… but this place,” Angel turned and looked around the city again. Night had fallen and Angel could see every living thing that the planet had to offer. Everything was moving; a thousand sounds of life met Angel’s ears at once and he knew that there was nothing dead on this planet, absolutely nothing.

He sighed happily and looked back at Spike. “Sequoia is _alive_ , it’s more alive than anything I’ve ever felt, but it can’t die! You and I are creatures that aren’t alive, so we can’t die, but this planet is so alive that it’ll never die!”

Angel grabbed Spike and kissed him, holding the blonde as close as he could. “We belong here,” he whispered. “It’s the Yin to our Yang.”

“Exactly,” Spike nodded. “So does that mean you wanna stay?”

Angel let out a sudden bark of laughter. He leaned in and rubbed their noses together. “Do I want to stay?” He joked. “I would let the planet swallow me whole before I’d leave it,” he hugged Spike closer, brushing his lips next to the blonde’s ear. “Or you,” Angel whispered.

Spike smiled and kissed Angel’s neck. “Same here, love.”

They stood there for a while longer, just holding each other as they realized what they had now: a home.

Finally, Spike pulled back and smiled up at his Sire. “It’s getting late and we’d better get going if we want to hit Vald up for a place to stay.” He twined his fingers with Angel’s and pulled the brunette along with him. “He and his family live over on Willow’s Cross.”

“Let’s go,” Angel smiled. He wrapped his arm around Spike’s hips, holding the other man close as they walked farther into the city.

Spike slid his left hand into Angel’s back pocket. Angel thought he was being cute, but when he left it there, he assumed that Spike just wanted to hold him close and make sure he was still there. Angel could understand that, none of this really seemed like it was actually happening and he too wanted some assurance that Spike wasn’t just a figment of his imagination. But there was still something bothering him…

As they walked down towards Willow’s Cross, Angel couldn’t help but feel the cool, metal band on Spike’s ring finger and the poke of one of the leaves from his charm bracelet. Angel had figured that the bracelet had something to do with Spike’s family and he’d let it alone, but it was the wedding band that bothered him.

Now that he and Spike were together—presumably forever—would it be too much to ask Spike to take the ring off? Angel understood devotion and knew Spike was a bulwark of commitment, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that the simple wedding band was standing in the way of their eternity.

His thoughts distracting him again, Angel didn’t notice when Spike stopped in front of one of the tree-houses and knocked on the wood. Angel refocused and held his breath. Now they would see if Spike’s friend was still living here.

 

To be continued…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will not apologize for the horrible Wizard of Oz joke.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting an old fic from livrjournal, from back when I used to write Buffy the Vampire Slayer fanfiction. I've edited through for any mistakes, but the content is all the same as it was. Enjoy!
> 
> Not mine. It all belongs to Joss, I'm making no money from this.

“Ugh, c’mon Vald. I know you’re there.” Spike knocked again, looking up at one of the lighted windows.

“What if they moved?” Angel asked, worry seeping into his voice. He knew they needed a backup plan.

Spike abandoned his knocking for a moment and sighed at Angel. “Here’s the thing,” he said. “These people are trees, they put down roots somewhere and they stay, and they stay, and they stay. They raise their children in the same spot, their grandchildren, their great grand children. Ya get it?”

He turned and knocked again, more like pounded. “Vald! _Es ist Spike!_ ”

“He speaks German?”

Spike nodded. “Pretty damn close. First time I heard it, I couldn’t tell the difference. It’s called Zeichen, the language they speak on Rotwald. Vald came from Rotwald to settle here.”

“I thought you said they didn’t move around much?”

The blonde shrugged. “Vald is a bit different, but,” he said. But before Angel could get a word in Spike saw the look on his face and knew what he was going to say. “He has a family, so there’s no way he’s leavin’. Vald!” Spike shouted again, knocking harder.

Angel reached out and grabbed Spike’s hand. “Spike, listen.” He whispered. They both strained their ears and heard soft footsteps from inside the tree.

Spike smirked. “He’s coming.” He stepped back and grabbed the other vampire’s hand, squeezing tightly in his excitement.

Again, Angel could feel the wedding band cold against his skin. His heart ached softly as he thought about Spike’s _wife_. He understood that she held a significant place in Spike’s heart, and he understood that they’d rekindled their relationship not even two weeks ago, but he couldn’t help himself as he thought about Spike’s past.

Angel’s thoughts were interrupted by a voice. “Hallo?” A firm, male voice called out into the night.

“Vald!” Spike said again. “ _Es ist Spike!_ ”

“Spike?” Suddenly, the tree opened up and a brown-skinned Chloroplast stood there staring out at them. He had brown eyes and his vine-like hair hanging long around his shoulders, looking a bit like dreadlocks. “Spike!” The man lunged out and pulled Spike into a bone-crunching hug, completely ignoring Angel. “ _Mein Gott Spike! Mine Junge ist zu Hause!_ ” He grabbed Spike by the wrists and hauled him inside. “Zita! _Kinder! Spike has komm züruck!_ ”

Vald pulled Spike into the tree, leaving Angel standing on the door step, examining the door that had appeared out of nowhere. He looked close and saw the groove in the bark. It was subtle, but it was there. Apparently, these houses were very alive, still growing along with the families that inhabited them. “Interesting,” Angel mumbled to himself.

“Hallo,” a small voice said. Angel looked down and saw a little Chloroplast girl looking up at him, she had mahogany brown skin just like Vald and those same chocolate-colored eyes. Angel assumed she was his daughter. “ _Wer bist du?_ ” She asked.

“Um,” he searched his brain to try and remember what little German he could, hopefully it was close enough to pass. “ _Ich bin_ …” he’d forgotten how to say ‘friend,’ so Angel switched tactics. “ _Mit Spike?_ ” He tried.

The little girl’s eyes lit up when he mentioned Spike’s name. “ _Spikes Freund!_ ” Ah, so that was the word for friend. “Papa! Mamma! _Spike hat einer Freund!_ ” She grabbed his hand in her strong little fingers and dragged him inside. Angel turned and looked over his shoulder just in time to see the door swing itself closed and practically disappear into the wall.

She pulled him down a hallway, with green, mossy-looking wallpaper. Angel did a double take a realized: the wall paper was moss! Everything inside the tree was completely natural. And the tree seemed to be forming these things on its own. They passed a staircase that curved naturally up to the second story of the tree-house, a small table with a lamp—both of which were growing right out of the floor—and a coat rack, also growing out of the floor. It seemed like the house grew its own furniture to accommodate the family that lived there.

Before Angel could even focus on everything around him, he was pulled through a naturally forming arched doorway, towards a clutch of jabbering voices. The little girl finally stopped and he saw where Spike had been spirited off to.

Three other Chloroplasts were gathered around Spike, the man from the door, a woman (Angel assumed her to be Vald’s wife) and a teen-aged looking boy. They all seemed to be trying to grab his attention as they chattered madly. From what Angel could understand, they were all demanding to know where he had been all these years.

“Vald, Zita! _Stumme!_ ” Spike shouted. They all fell quiet. “And English, if you please. I haven’t spoken Zeichen in almost a century.”

“Okay,” Vald smiled. He rested his hands on Spike’s shoulders and gave him a soft shake. “You’re finally back! It’s been too long!”

“Yeah, I know,” Spike smiled sheepishly. “Things have been happening.” He turned to the woman—Zita—and kissed her cheek. “You look beautiful, not one season older than when I left.” His gaze turned to the boy, who was only half a head shorter than Spike. “Reiter! My gods you got tall! Half a metre, I swear!”

The boy pulled away suddenly, glaring up at Spike. “Half a metre that you missed!” He turned around and stalked out of the room, right past Angel and the little girl.

Finally, Spike noticed them. “Angel!” He disentangled himself from Zita and Vald and walked over to him, grabbing his hand for support. “I thought you were right behind me?”

He shook his head. “No, I was just checking things out and she found me,” he smiled down at the little girl.

Spike followed Angel’s gaze and his eyes went wide when he saw her. “My, my, my, if it isn’t Gabriella!”

She smiled brightly. “Hi Spike.” She dropped Angel’s hand and reached up. Spike lifted her into his arms and hugged her close, her head resting against his un-beating heart.

“My gods,” he whispered into her vine-like hair. “You got so big! When I left, you were just a little sapling!”

Gabriella pulled back and glared up at him. “You were gone too long,” she accused.

“I know baby,” he nodded, kissing her forehead quickly. “But I’m back now.”

Her smile returned. “That’s good.” She reached back and yanked on Angel’s shirt, pulling him forward. “I found your friend.”

“Thank you,” he kissed the little girl again and set her down. Spike took Gabriella’s hand and Angel’s and pulled them back towards Vald and Zita.

Gabriella scurried over to her parents and Vald picked her up. They all looked at Spike. “So,” Vald said. “This is the Angel we always heard about?”

“Yeah,” Spike nodded. He reached over and clasped Angel’s hands in both of his, smiling up at him adoringly. “This is my Angel. Angel, this is my family.”

Angel tried to be glad that Spike introduced him as a significant other (because that’s what he was) but he couldn’t help but notice Vald and Zita’s reactions. Zita reached over and gripped Vald’s arm, and Vald looked as if he wanted to kill Angel. T didn’t know about Janna’s death, so they probably say Angel as the _other_ man. He didn’t blame them.

“What about Janna?” Zita whispered through clenched teeth.

Spike’s smile fell. He looked at his friends, then turned to Angel. “Love, I need a minute, do you mind?”

“Not at all,” of course he understood.

“Thanks,” Spike reached out and took Gabriella from Vald’s arms, smiling sadly at her. “Would you mind showin’ Angel to the other room?”

“Sure,” she nodded. She hopped down from Spike’s arms and took Angel’s hand. “C’mon,” and she started marching away, towing Angel with her.

“Love you!” Angel called quickly over his shoulder before letting himself be dragged away. He saw Vald’s passive face darken at his words, but it didn’t matter. Spike would sort it all out.

Gabriella dragged him back through the front hall and into another room. Again, the tree seemed to be growing whatever was needed—there was a couch covered with that same moss that covered the walls, a small table growing up from the ground, and two more chairs covered with moss. A clock on the wall (also growing out of the tree) proclaimed that it was nearly seven o’clock. Seven o’clock and the sun was already set? Angel did a double take, thinking he’d read it wrong, but it still said the same thing.

“It’s about twenty-two hundred hours, Federation time.” Someone said.

Angel looked away from the clock and saw the boy sitting in one of the chairs. Like Vald, his vine-like hair reminded Angel of dreadlocks, but his was not nearly as long as his father’s and pulled back into a thick braid. Unlike either of his parents, his eyes were gray and his skin had more of a reddish tint to it, more like cherry and less like mahogany. He was leaning forward to rest his elbows on the top of his knees, hands folded to rest his chin on, looking deep in thought.

“Oh,” Angel said.

“Sequoia has fifteen hour days, eleven hours short of Federation Standard.” His voice was hard and impassive, like Angel had interrupted something important.

“Oh,” he said again. He felt another tug on his hand and looked down at Gabriella.

She dragged Angel over to the couch, pushing him down. “Sit here,” she commanded, then clambered up into his lap. She grabbed Angel’s arms and wrapped them around herself so that the vampire was holding on to her. Then, she leaned her head against Angel’s chest.

The boy finally cracked a smile when he saw how his sister’s actions confused Angel. “You’re a mystery,” he smirked. “She likes mysteries.”

“Why am I a mystery?” Angel asked. To him, this planet was more of a mystery than anything about his own body.

He shrugged. “Have you taken a listen? Everything here is alive, absolutely everything. Every single piece of this planet has a heartbeat or a pulse of some sort.” He pointed to Gabriella. “You and Spike are the only things she’s ever seen that don’t make any noises of life. When she was a baby, she used to fall asleep against Spike’s chest because the silence was so comforting to her.”

Angel smiled. “So that’s it,” he looked down at Gabriella. She was very focused on listening to his silent chest, as if she was trying to catch a heartbeat.

He let the little girl be and looked back at the boy. “Reiter, wasn’t it?” Angel asked. He nodded. “I’m Angel, I would shake your hand but,” he gestured to Gabriella and Reiter smiled again.

“That’s okay. And I already know who you are. Spike told me a lot about you when I was a kid.” His face darkened. “Then he left.”

“He didn’t leave,” he jumped to Spike’s defense. Two hundred years of habit would probably never die. “They just moved.”

Reiter held up a hand. “I know,” he nodded. “Janna wanted to raise Roth closer to Spike’s home. I understood that, but…” he trailed off and Angel could see tears welling up in Reiter’s eyes. “Tell me the truth,” he whispered. “They’re gone, aren’t they?”

“What?” Had he heard that correctly? The way Spike told it, he hadn’t had any contact with his friends on Sequoia, in fact, Spike hadn’t even mentioned having friends on Sequoia, not until this afternoon.

Reiter shook his head. “No one told me, I just… know.” He sighed heavily and buried his face in his hands. “Roth was only fifty years younger than me! We used to play together!” Suddenly, he stood up from his seat and stood next to the wall, beating his fist against the wood. “Damnit!”

Angel glanced down at Gabriella to see how she was affected by the news, but she was strangely quiet, it was almost as if she hadn’t even heard the conversation as she sat there with her ear pressed to Angel’s chest.

“Don’t worry about her,” Reiter sighed. “She’s not paying attention. You’re too new and interesting for her to get distracted.”

Angel chuckled softly. “I’m not new, I’m older than you. I’m older than Spike and I’m probably older than your parents.”

Reiter turned sharply. “Really?” He whispered. Angel nodded. “How old are you?”

He thought for a moment and did the math; after so long, one tended to lose track. “I’m one thousand and thirty-one.” He smirked as the boy’s eyes went wider. “How old are you?” Angel asked simply.

“Four hundred and two,” Reiter whispered. He nodded towards his sister. “She’s two hundred and fifty three.”

“How old would Roth be?” He suspected that Reiter needed to get out his feelings about his friend, and as a nearly anonymous sounding board, Angel was probably the right person to help him with that.

“Three hundred and fifty-two.” His voice cracked with emotion, not adolescence.

“You were close?”

Reiter nodded. “Literally and figuratively.” He sniffed. “Janna was my Dad’s cousin. He was my cousin, but he was like a brother to me.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Angel said quietly.

“We both are,” Spike walked into the room, Zita and Vald behind him. Zita was still a little tearful and Vald held her close. He was very calm, but Angel knew he was just putting on a brave face for his wife and children.

“Reiter,” Vald said. “It’s late. Please take your sister up to bed.”

He nodded and walked back over to Angel, pulling her from the vampire’s arms. She whined softly at being taken from her newest interest, but didn’t fuss anymore as Reiter took her upstairs to bed.

When the children were out of the room, Zita stepped forward and took hold of Angel’s hands. “I want to apologize for our rudeness from before,” she looked like she was fighting tears again. “Janna was family, so you can understand what we must’ve thought,”

“It’s fine,” Angel whispered back. “I understand, don’t worry.”

Zita nodded and turned back to her husband. “As far as everything else goes,” Vald said. “You are welcome to stay in our home as long as you need.”

“It won’t be long,” Spike promised.

“Whatever you need,” Zita smiled. “Let me show you up to the room.” She let go of Vald’s hand and walked past the vampires.

They followed her up the winding stairs, past two doors. She stopped at the third and walked inside. “Here you are.”

“Thanks,” Spike nodded, but Angel couldn’t say anything. He was dumb-struck as he watched two branches growing out of the floor.

After just a moment, they were nearly waist high. Then the branches stopped growing up and started growing out, their spindly twigs sprouting leaves and forming a hammock. All Angel could do was stare. “Wow,” he whispered.

Spike and Zita chuckled. “The house grows to accommodate us.” She said softly.

“Yeah,” Angel nodded, unable to tear his eyes away from the newly formed hammock. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Not many have,” Spike smirked. “Thanks, we’ll see you tomorrow.” He gave Zita a quick kiss in thanks.

She smiled at them. “Sleep well,” when she walked out of the room, the tree sealed up behind her, leaving just a slight trace of a door.

“Wow,” Angel said again.

Spike chuckled. “Oh, come here, you goof.” Spike grabbed Angel’s wrists and pulled him closer, pressing their lips together. “Thank you,” he whispered. “Thank you for everything.” He bent his head to rest in the crook of Angel’s neck. “You left your family for me and I could never thank you enough for that.”

He shrugged, kissing Spike’s temple. “You did the same for me,”

“No, it wasn’t the same.” Spike pulled back and Angel could see the tears in his eyes. “When I said I’d stay with you, I already started thinking about how to get you to leave the New London. I figured that after Alistair passed, you wouldn’t want to stay anymore and I could convince you to come to Sequoia with me. I thought I was only giving up my life for fifty—maybe sixty—years. But now that there’s nowhere else for us to go, you’ve given it up forever.”

He buried his head in Angel’s neck again. “That’s something I could never imagine.”

Angel said nothing, he just concentrated on the feel of Spike in his arms. Under the thin material of his shirt, he could feel all the muscles of the blonde’s back curved forward, leaning on him like Angel was Spike’s only tie to the world. He could feel Spike’s fingers curling into his shoulders, holding him as tight as he could, and with vampire strength, that was tight.

As Spike clung to Angel, the truth of the younger man’s words hit him: everything he’d ever known was gone. Gone to the point that Spike was all he had left. Angel had accepted that he would never return to his home again, but he never thought that he wouldn’t even have the option of going back!

Panic overwhelmed Angel again and he held Spike closer. “Oh my gods,” he whispered.

Spike felt Angel’s tears against his cheek and sighed. “I’m sorry love,” he understood that it would take a few weeks—maybe even longer—for Angel to really get used to this, and he was more than happy to wait. “Anything you want me to do to make this easier, you’ll have it, all you have to do is ask.”

He wrapped his arms around Angel’s neck and kissed him. Angel felt the cool metal of Spike’s wedding band press against the back of his neck. The cold metal seemed to burn hot as a branding iron and Angel snapped. “I want you to take off the ring,” he hissed.

Spike wasn’t entirely sure he’d heard that right. He pulled back and met Angel’s tearful eyes. “What?”

“I want you to take off the ring,” Angel said again. And then he started to crack.

“I know you love Janna, and I’m not trying to make her seem less important, but I can’t help but think that you’re more devoted to her than you are to me! You two were together for two hundred and forty-some-odd years, when you and I tried and failed half a dozen times. This time, it’s supposed to be permanent, but how can I know that when that little piece of metal keeps reminding you of her and the two plus centuries you spent _not_ fighting?

“Sometimes, all we seem to do is fight! And the last thing I want is for you to look at that ring and remember a time where there were no complications—because that’s what you and I are: we’re complicated!” Angel knew that he wasn’t making sense anymore, but he couldn’t seem to stop. The words just kept coming. “We’re the last of our species with a thousand years of emotional baggage, mental damage, and a lot of physical scarring to boot!”

He pulled back and turned away from the other vampire, running his hands nervously through his hair. “I just gave up everything for you—my family, my home, my job! I have nothing left _but_ you! I don’t want you to take a look at that ring and remember a simpler time, because gods be damned, I will not spend the rest of this eternity alone! I would rather be dust than lose you again, especially if I lose you to a memory.”

Angel fell silent and just glared at the wall in front of him. He started to wonder if he hit his head against the sturdy looking wood, would it knock him out? He’d rather be unconscious than be in this argument and hear Spike’s answer to the thoughts that had been nagging at Angel since he first saw the wedding band.

Silence stretched through the room as neither man spoke. Angel started mutely at the wall, mentally cursing himself for his outburst. What if Spike had never even thought of any of the issues he’d just brought up? What if he hadn’t even spared their tendency to fight a passing thought? What if the blonde hadn’t cared about their respective emotional issues and psychic baggage? What if he was content to stay with Angel forever, now only to rethink it because of what Angel had just brought up?

There were too many ‘what ifs’ for his liking, and as the silence went on and on, Angel became closer and closer to storming out of the room, perhaps never to return.

Finally, Spike’s soft voice broke through the deafening silence. “Got that all out of yer system now?” He asked. He wasn’t yelling, or crying, or angry in any way Angel could hear, he was just calm and collected.

“Yeah,” Angel nodded, still not looking at the other vampire.

“Good,” he was still calm. “You wanna turn and look at me now?”

Angel turned slowly, ready to be hit with Spike’s glare of death. But the younger man’s face was as calm as his voice. He stood there with his arms hanging loosely at his sides—not crossed in front of his chest in an effort to close himself off. His face was calm and passive, his eyes soft and understanding. The only flicker of emotion that Angel could see was worry.

“You’re an idiot,” Spike said suddenly.

Angel snapped out of the small sense of security he had drawn from Spike’s calmness. “What?” He asked.

“You’re an idiot,” Spike said again. There was no anger in his voice or in his eyes, just pure truth in his words.

He held up his left hand, showing Angel the ring. “Are you really telling me that all this bother is about my ring?” Reluctantly, he nodded and Spike rolled his eyes. “Jeez, Angel,” he sighed, shaking his head as if he’d been having this same argument too many times. “You have no right to be jealous of anything, least of all, a ring.”

“What?” Angel growled.

Spike’s calm had finally broken. His brows knit together in what looked like anger. “You heard me,” he snapped. “You have no right to be jealous, not one little bit.”

“Oh yeah?” Angel could feel his anger boiling over. They were fighting again (big shock, as fighting seemed to be what they were best at) but they weren’t fighting about what Angel thought it would be; he thought Spike would be angry at Angel for trying to strip his past away, but this was about jealousy. Angel didn’t know how they’d gotten here, and he was actually a bit confused, but his instinct to snipe back was too strong. “And why’s that?” He hissed.

“Because it’s always been you!” Spike snarled. “You’re the only one I can properly function with! Look at us, Angel, fighting is what we do! We’re good at it and it works for us! You and I could fight morning, noon and night and still go to bed completely in love with each other, no regrets about anything that ever happened.

“It was 2004 when I realized I could never spend my eternity with anyone but you. First off, you’re the only immortal I’d be able to stand for that long. Secondly, you’re my Sire! You’re the only family that’s ever counted for me, so why would I ever walk away from that?”

“You did walk away from it,” Angel hissed in a deadly whisper. “You walked away in LA, you walked away half a dozen times when we were in England, and then you left—permanently! If you wanted to spend forever with me, why’d you leave?”

“I was scared,” he sighed. Angel hadn’t expected that answer. Spike hadn’t really owned up to ever being afraid to anything.

When he saw Angel’s confusion, Spike snorted. “Oh c’mon, Angel, it isn’t that surprisingly of an answer. I was only a hundred and twenty-four, I didn’t know what eternity meant. Not many vampires do.

“When I saw my friends dead in that alleyway, that’s when I realized what eternity was: eternity was being alone! Losing everyone but you. And, naturally, I was scared of it! So scared that I ran! I ran away from you because you were the shining light at the end of an endless tunnel. ‘Cept you weren’t Heaven, you were the train! I wasn’t ready for that!

“When I met Janna was the first time I actually accepted what forever meant, and forever meant you.” Spike stopped yelling and hung his head sadly. “I was making plans to find you. When fifteen hundred years went by and she finally passed, I was going to grieve, then I was going to find you. I was so shocked by her sudden death that the grieving took a bit longer than I’d planned, but I was still going to try and find you.”

Spike laughed suddenly, shaking his head. “Bloody ironic, isn’t it? You’re jealous of her token and she was jealous of yours. Neither of you even met the other, but you both shared the same Sin.” He snorted again. “At least she was green to begin with!”

Spike started laughing uncontrollably, but Angel’s mind was too busy to notice. He turned over the words in his head, trying to understand what the blonde meant when he said ‘token.’ As a young vampire, Spike had been known to keep things from his victims, and later on he kept things to remind him of his loved ones.

It all clicked together suddenly: the wedding band was the one thing Spike had left from Janna. The bracelet must be something that reminded Spike of his son… so what did he have of Angel’s?

“Spike,” Angel whispered. He looked up and saw Spike clutching a stitch in his side, still laughing uncontrollably. “Spike!” He yelled.

“What?” Spike said between laughs.

“What was my token?” He asked.

Spike stopped laughing suddenly. He straightened himself up and looked at Angel, smiling softly. “Finally, ya get around to asking.” He held up his left arm and pointed to the wedding band. “Janna,” he pointed to the charm bracelet. “Roth,” his finger slid down to the allergy bracelet and his smile widened.

Angel still didn’t get it. “Your allergy bracelet?”

Spike nodded. He reached his hand in his pocket and stepped back over to Angel. “Didn’t you ever wonder where I got it?” Spike asked. “The Federation would never make me anything like this, and living in the woods the way I usually do, I don’t have enough money for silver.”

“Okay,” Angel nodded, still confused by the turn this argument had taken. “Where’d you get it?”

“My friend Viktor—the same guy on the Lunar Colony who couldn’t stand the smell of the bleach—he was a metal worker, brought up there to test which metals are still usable under Lunar gravity. He was an amateur jewelry maker and he made it for me, said that he didn’t want me to get injured and pass out somewhere so the sun could pick me off before anyone knew to move me. I had the extra languages added a few years ago, but that’s not the point.”

“What is the point?” Angel officially had no idea what was going on now. He’d actually forgotten what they were fighting about (one constant of his numerous relationships with Spike).

“I lied when I said it was one of a kind.” Spike’s smirk widened and he finally pulled his hand out of his pocket. Dangling from his fingers was another silver chain.

Angel’s eyes went wide. “It has a mate?”

“It has a mate,” Spike nodded.

His hand shaking, Angel held out his wrist so Spike could fasten the bracelet on. Spike smiled at Angel’s silence. “In 2004, after we saved the world, I knew that it would be us together until the end of the Universe. I was too young and scared back then to deal with that thought, but I kept making preparations. When Vik offered to make me the bracelet, I asked him to make two.”

The chain felt good against Angel’s skin, not mocking or burning the way Spike’s wedding band had felt. Spike held Angel’s hand and the brunette could see the little sun symbol, along with _sun_ written in the three languages. Spike turned it over and Angel saw his names scribed into the metal: _Angel_ and _O’Connor, Liam_.

Tears sprang to Angel’s eyes and his gaze snapped up to Spike’s smiling face. “You remembered my name?”

“Of course,” Spike smiled. “How could I forget the only man I ever loved?” Angel said nothing, just stared at Spike in amazement.

He lifted his hand and stroked Angel’s cheek lovingly. “So what’s it gonna be? You have my answer, but what do you say?”

Angel didn’t say anything, he just leaned forward and pulled Spike into a passionate kiss.

 

To be concluded

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As for the German: any mistakes I made (because I'm really rusty and was never anywhere near fluent) will be chalked up to the "differences" between the languages.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is an older work from livejournal that I'm reposting (as I don't have an lj account anymore). I've gone through and edited a bit, but there are no really big changes to the story. Enjoy!
> 
> Not mine, not making any money from it.

Angel woke the next afternoon to find himself alone in the hammock. The snug sleeping conditions had forced the vampires to sleep twined in each other’s arms (something they didn’t mind in the least) and with their close proximity, Angel thought he would feel when Spike woke. Apparently not.

He sat up and looked around the room. The afternoon sunlight flooded through the window in a very non-threatening way and Angel knew that he was safe here. This was probably the only planet where he could stroll around in full daylight without a care in the world. A small chair had grown in the corner and Angel saw Spike’s shoes, shirt and belt thrown on top of it; he wondered why the blonde hadn’t stripped sooner.

He shook his head and rolled out of the hammock, planning to go and search the house for his mate. He smiled at that: his _mate_. Angel hadn’t had a mate in centuries. Darla was his first, Buffy was as good as his mate, and then there was Spike. Even though they’d been together for fifty years straight before Spike fled the Earth, they’d never picked up that important title again, but by giving Angel the bracelet—the mate to his own—Angel knew that was as close as Spike would ever get to saying it out loud, and that was perfectly fine with him.

Before Angel could get back to his task of looking for the blonde, there was a soft knock. “Um,” he looked around the room, trying to figure out where the knock had come from. “Come in?” He asked the ceiling.

A door that Angel hadn’t seen opened and Vald walked in. “Good afternoon, Angel.” He smiled.

“Good afternoon,” he greeted.

“Spike asked me to tell you that he stepped out earlier. He had some things to do and he didn’t want you to worry.”

Angel nodded his thanks. “I was wondering where he was.”

“Yes, he said he had some business in town,” Vald sighed heavily. “Then he needed to speak with Reiter, explain things a bit.”

“I figured,” Angel whispered back. “Reiter told me that he and Roth were close.”

“Like brothers. They were together all the time. Roth was like a second son, and ninety years of knowing him wasn’t enough.” Vald sighed again and leaned against the newly grown doorway.

“Chloroplast children grow very slowly. We have long childhoods to help us enjoy life and appreciate the value of the beautiful world that surrounds us. The first four hundred and twenty some-odd are spent as a child—Spike approximates that it’s about newborn to twelve years old.” He explained.

“Four hundred and twenty years as a child,” Angel mused. “That’s one hell of a good time.”

The other man smiled. “Yes, I remember it fondly. The next seventy-five or so years are adolescence, the teen years, Spike called it.” He shook his head. “Reiter is a bit ahead of his age group and he’s already getting moody. I should’ve had another twenty years,” he muttered darkly.

“Oh believe me, I know about that.” Angel smiled. “Newly sired vampires are usually very infatuated with their first twenty or so years of life and very child-like in their excitement.”

“But not Spike,” Vald read his mind.

“But not Spike.” He sighed. “He got vicious very quickly and took all the fun out of having a new Childe in the house.”

“Well,” Vald smiled. “At least you still have him.”

Angel nodded, then decided they should get off of this subject. He didn’t need to alienate his kind host. A yawn suddenly overwhelmed him and Angel could feel the lack of sleep he’d gotten last night. “Wow,” he yawned. “How long was I asleep?”

Vald shrugged. “About five hours. That’s actually a full night’s rest, but you’re probably not used to our short days yet.” He looked Angel up and down, examining the vampire’s obvious exhaustion. Then Vald got an idea. “Would you like to go take a shower? It might help wake you up.”

“There’s a shower?” He asked hopefully. “I was planning on asking last night, but with everything going on…”

Vald nodded. “Don’t worry, it’s fine. And I don’t think anyone’s using the falls right now. Let’s go see!” He turned and walked out of the room, leaving Angel scratching his head.

“Falls?” He asked quietly and followed the Chloroplast out.

As it turned out, what Vald had meant by ‘falls’ was an actual waterfall. Vald’s home was near the end of the street, Willow’s Cross, where there was a small wooded area. As Angel found out, that little wooded area led back out into the forest where a small cliff and stream formed the waterfall. There was a tree right next to the edge of the stream with branches growing suspiciously like a clothing rack and Angel could only assume it was a drying rack for those who washed their clothes in the stream.

“Here you are,” Vald smiled.

“Thanks,” Angel was still looking around, taking everything in.

“When you’ve finished, you can walk back to the house. The trees mostly shade the city and there are only a few places where you need to avoid the sunlight,” Vald said. “Spike usually likes to be careful and stay in during the day, but he’s a worry wart.”

Angel chuckled. “Thank you.”

Vald waved goodbye and as soon as he was gone, Angel started stripping his clothes. He hung his shirt, pants, underwear and socks on the funny-shaped tree’s branches, and rested his shoes on the ground next to the tree before wading into the water.

Angel braced himself for a cold shock, but found that the water wasn’t just tolerable, it was warm. He smiled at the clean feeling that washed over his abused and sweaty skin. Before he even reached the falls, Angel dunked his head under the water and submerged himself completely. It felt so good.

He stood back up a moment later and wiped the water from his eyes, then walked over to the waterfall. As soon as the falling drops of water touched his skin, Angel flashed back to his shower on the New London. If possible, the water here felt even better, so naturally clean and pure, very unlike the artificially purified water in the New London’s tanks. Everything on Sequoia was natural, untouched by technology or the greed of humans. It was perfect.

Unbeknownst to Angel, Spike had finished his talk with Reiter and started making his way to the waterfall for a bath. He stopped at the edge of the stream and smiled at what he saw: Angel standing under the waterfall, hands braced against the rock wall, head bent forward, water streaming down the strong muscles of his back, and his soft, brown hair sticking wetly to his head. He looked so content, he looked like a Greek God, he looked like he _belonged_ there.

Spike felt a sudden tightening in his pants as he looked at his new mate. He felt an overwhelming, completely overpowering urge to make love with Angel under those falls, not caring about who could walk in on them, because for the first time, they had a home planet back, a place where they belonged.

He stripped off his shorts as quietly as he could and threw them on top of Angel’s things, then silently waded into the water. Angel was so lost in the calming sensations of the warm water washing over his skin and cleaning all his cares away, he didn’t hear anything.

When Spike leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Angel, the brunette didn’t even jump. Having Spike touch him was just as natural as the trees around them or the water flowing over them. “Hi,” he whispered.

“Hi,” Spike smiled, kissing Angel’s warm back. “I love you so much,” he kissed again.

Angel smiled. “I love you too.”

Spike trailed kisses across the back of his shoulders, nipping and biting, making Angel moan. He wrapped his arms around Angel’s waist and pulled them flush together, making sure that they could both feel his erection.

Angel smiled when he felt the press gently between his cheeks. He knew what Spike wanted, and he wanted it too. He had learned a long time ago that there was no shame in bottoming, it was about love and trust, not about who was Dominant and who was submissive, and Angel didn’t mind giving himself up to Spike.

Spike slid one hand down under the water and gently squeezed one of Angel’s strong cheeks. “May I?” He whispered against the nape of his neck.

Angel shook his head and Spike’s heart caught. “You don’t even have to ask,” he said softly. “Never, ever.”

Spike let go of a breath he didn’t know he was holding and smiled against Angel’s back. “I love you,” he whispered again. Angel just smiled.

Sticking his fingers in his mouth, Spike liberally coated the digits with spit, then lowered them under the water. Slowly, he eased a finger into Angel’s tight hole, making the other man hiss in pleasure. He added a second finger and started stretching the sensitive ring of muscle. To Spike’s knowledge, Angel hadn’t bottomed in centuries and he wanted this to go as smoothly as possible. They didn’t really have anything proper on hand, but the resilience of vampire bodies would definitely help them along.

Angel moaned softly in pain and dug his fingers into the rock wall. “Sorry,” Spike whispered, kissing Angel’s back again. “We can wait until we get back to the house—”

“No,” Angel hissed. “Out here.”

Spike nodded. “Right,” and kept going.

Pressing his head against the rock wall, Angel easily forgot the pain. Because this was Spike. Touching him in the most intimate way… he would bear any pain to be this close to his love.

After a few minutes of careful stretching, the muscles finally gave way under Spike’s caressing touches. They both groaned in pleasure and Angel shoved his hips backwards to get more, more. Spike smirked against Angel’s shoulder. He was ready.

He slid his fingers out and grabbed his erection, guiding the head of his prick to the loosened hole. Angel winced in pain as the much larger protrusion tried to make its way inside of him, but he tried to relax and let it come.

Spike could feel Angel’s pain and he leaned forward and peppered kisses along the other man’s back again. “Sorry,” he whispered again. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Angel smiled. Then he took a deep breath and willed all of his muscles to relax.

Spike slid in another few centimeters and Angel jerked suddenly, all pain gone in an instant. Spike chuckled and kissed the shoulder in front of him; he’d found the right spot now. He pulled his hips back, then thrust in again with the same results. Every movement helped to loosen the tight passage and Spike could finally slide all the way inside.

When Angel felt Spike’s hips flush against his backside, they both froze, trying to keep calm. Angel exhaled heavily and tried to keep from crying out, and Spike’s fingers tightened around his hips, desperately trying to keep from shooting his load too early.

To put it simply: Angel was almost impossibly tight. Nearly seven-hundred years of celibacy had made him feel like a virgin again, and it was all Spike could do to control himself. He felt like his eyes were bulging out of his head, and he had the double urges to hyperventilate and hold his breath at the same time. Everything inside of him was surging a swirling and Spike couldn’t get enough of it.

On Angel’s end of things, it felt like his entire world had been shrunk to that moment. Nothing else outside of he and Spike mattered. As long as he had his mate there to kiss him and love him, Angel would never have a care in the Universe. He never wanted that feeling to end.

They both shivered at the lovely feelings assaulting their bodies, and then Spike started thrusting. He brought his hips back and pushed forward, brushing Angel’s prostate again. The brunette could barely keep his moans under control as Spike did it again and again, until they were both lost in a never-ending circuit of pleasure.

It all exploded a few short minutes later when Angel came with a low growl. He leaned his head back into Spike’s shoulder and kissed him as he shook and shivered in pleasure. The rhythmic clenching of Angel’s inner muscles pulled Spike over the edge. He turned his head and kissed those inviting lips, his hips bucking quickly and emptying his climax into Angel.

When they had no more left to give, then finally broke the kiss, both dragging in harsh, ragged breaths despite not needing to. Slowly, very slowly, Spike pulled out, making Angel moan again. They both slumped against the cliff in exhaustion and they tried to collect themselves. Spike shot Angel a wry smile and he grinned back.

“So,” Angel said when they’d stopped panting. “How was your afternoon?”

Spike smirked and pulled Angel close, hugging him as they both cleaned off. “Pretty good. I had to talk to Reiter about some things,” his smile faded. “He’s still very upset about Roth, but he knew it was coming.” Off of Angel’s look: “Reiter has visions. He told me that he saw Janna and Roth get killed. We had a good cry about that and I told him that he didn’t have to cry anymore ‘cause you and I were staying.” Spike’s smile returned. “He brightened up at that.”

“Good,” Angel nodded. “So where exactly are we staying? I don’t think Vald and Zita will appreciate us living in their house to the end of Eternity.”

Spike just smirked. “Oh, just wait until you see.” Angel was tempted to ask about the smugness of Spike’s smirk, but he decided to leave it for now. He’d find out soon enough.

 

~

 

“I hate you,” Angel sighed.

Spike chuckled, checking the blindfold to make sure the other vampire couldn’t see. “Now, now, love,” he chuckled. “There’s no need for talk like that.” He held two fingers in front of Angel’s face. “How many fingers?”

Angel sighed. “I don’t know—blindfold, remember?”

“Okay, good.” He leaned forward and pulled Angel into a kiss. Angel reached out for his mate and held him close, using all of his other senses to replace his sight.

“Eh-hem,” Vald cleared his throat. The vampires sprang apart and Angel ducked his head. He couldn’t see Vald, but was still embarrassed by the way they’d been found.

Spike, on the other hand, just grinned. “Hey,” he greeted. “We ready?” Vald nodded and walked out of the house. Spike followed him, grabbing Angel’s hand and pulling him along behind.

He held tight to Spike’s hand as he walked blindly into the unknown. Two weeks ago, Angel wouldn’t trust anyone to take away his sight and pull him to some mysterious place, but now that he was with Spike, that trust wasn’t hard to find, in fact, it was almost automatic. He couldn’t imagine anything more natural than resting his life in Spike’s hands as the blonde led him down the stairs and out the door into the street.

Angel could feel the soft grass and cool dirt beneath his toes as they walked and he was very glad that he’d taken Spike’s advice (order, was more like it) to ditch his shoes and walk around barefoot; it really helped make Cypress feel more like home. However, Angel had drawn the line at getting rid of his shirt, choosing to unbutton it instead and feel the warm Sequoia breeze against his skin. He twined his arms around Spike and sighed happily. He really didn’t care where they were going, as long as he was with Spike, it would be perfect.

“Okay,” Spike said as they came to a stop. Angel’s felt fingers against the back of his head, strong muscles pulling at the knotted cloth. “You can look now.”

The blindfold fell away. They were right in front of the Life Tree. Vald sat on one of the tree’s roots, smiling at them. “Ready?” He asked.

Angel looked at Spike and saw that same wide grin. “What’s going on?”

Spike’s smile widened and he brought Angel’s hand to his lips. “Follow us,” he pulled Angel towards the Life Tree, up a set of winding roots that looked curiously like stairs, and over to Vald. The Chloroplast reached over and slid his hand into the small knot hole on the front of the tree. A door instantly formed and swung open to reveal a large staircase.

Angel’s eyes went wide. “It’s like the houses?” He asked as Spike led him inside.

“Yup, but that’s not even the best part.” He led Angel up the stairs, Vald following behind them.

They reached another door at the top of the stairs and Spike pushed it open. “Welcome home,” he whispered. And then Angel saw it.

Behind the door was a large, circular room. About two thirds of the walls were covered with books, which rested on shelves that weren’t so much against the walls, as they were the walls. The shelves went up so high, Angel couldn’t see the top. There must’ve been hundreds of thousands of books, maybe even millions; Angel could scarcely believe his eyes. Near the center of the room was a large reading table with eight chairs, all growing out of the floor. Then it all clicked together.

“This is a library!” He gasped.

Spike and Vald exchanged smiles. “Keep lookin’.” Spike urged.

He turned to survey the other part of the room. There was a moss-covered sofa and a mossy armchair with matching ottoman gathered around a small coffee table, which had just finished growing out of the floor. A little ways away, a beautiful, King sized four-poster bed was growing; the branches that made up the canopy started sprouting leaves, which hung down to form curtains. Flower buds dotted the branches and opened; Angel inhaled deeply: jasmine. A small nightstand grew next to the bed.

He sighed happily and turned to look at Spike. “I thought this was just a tree?” He laughed.

Spike chuckled, stepping towards Angel and taking the brunette’s hands in his. “I guess I was kind of wrong earlier: this tree isn’t just the heart of the planet, it’s everything. Heart,” he nodded towards the bookshelves, “brain, eyes, ears—everything.

“Chloroplasts aren’t usually fond of the city. Most stay in the forests for their entire lives, only coming here once, to this tree. It’s like Mecca: everyone has to come here at least once in their lives because they’re drawn to it. The Life Tree has the amazing ability to pull its people towards it to help them understand their lives, because it knows everything.

“See that?” He pointed to the books and Angel nodded. “That’s all the knowledge of the planet—and I do mean _of the planet_ —it gave us those books, gave us the secret of life. It’s not like the Earth where the secrets were hidden away, buried under millions of years of rock. All of Sequoia’s secrets are right there for anyone to learn! Not locked up in the bowels of a dead planet!”

“Usually,” Vald said, stepping toward the vampires. “The planet historian keeps track of all this information and this is his home.” He sighed sadly. “Just last season, our historian—Tannen—was finally taken by the planet, and we’ve been hard-pressed to find a new historian.”

Then it all clicked. Angel looked from Spike’s excited eyes to Vald’s soft smile. “Welcome home?” He whispered. “That’s what you said, but what did you mean? Is all this…” he trailed off as he took everything in again; the books, the furniture and the beautiful bed. “Ours?”

“Yeah,” Spike nodded tearfully as emotion overcame him. “All we have to do is say yes—”

“Yes,” Angel whispered before Spike could even finish. “Yes, yes, a million times yes!” He reached forward and grabbed Spike, pulling their lips together in a burning kiss.

Spike parted his lips and let Angel tongue caress against his own, letting the older vampire claim him and their love. His arms wrapped themselves tightly around Angel’s neck and his fingers dove into the spiky brown locks, holding them as close together as possible.

Vald smiled quietly to himself and cast his eyes downward, letting them have their privacy. But after a few moments, when it seemed like that had completely forgotten about—not only Vald’s presence—but his entire existence, he cleared his throat to get their attention.

Angel pulled back ever so slightly so that the kiss broke, but not far enough so that their lips parted. He stood there with his forehead touching Spike’s, his arms wrapped around the blonde’s slim waist, gazing down into those sparkling blue eyes.

Spike gazed back and Angel could see hungry desire staring back out at him. “Make it quick, Vald,” he whispered, his voice dropping an octave in lust.

Spike ground his pelvis against Angel and he could suddenly feel the younger man’s arousal. “Very quick,” Angel managed to hiss through clenched teeth.

Vald smirked. “The quick tour: this is the library, so there will be other people here from time to time.” He pointed over to the wall, just at the edge of the last bookcase where a leafy curtain was tied back. “You can pull that curtain all the way across the room to separate your living space.

“You have your own private falls in the back, just go down the staircase between the shelves there,” he pointed to a wooden staircase right in the middle of all the shelves that Angel hadn’t noticed before. “And you’re right back up against the forest, so hunting will be easy.”

He looked around the room, anywhere but at Angel or Spike. The two vampires weren’t doing anything (not really) but they stares they were giving each other were verging on pornographic. “And I think that’s it,” Vald said. “If you need me, I’m just down the road.”

“Thanks,” Spike said halfheartedly.

Vald just shook his head as he turned to go, knowing full well that they wouldn’t need him for anything. He walked out, shutting the door behind him.

As soon as they were alone, Spike pressed another kiss to Angel’s lips. Angel tried to hold him closer, but Spike pulled out of his arms and looked around the room. “Can you believe it?” He asked happily. “This is all ours! Vald told me about this last night and I checked it out this morning.” Spike shook his head, still grinning. “You have no idea how hard it was to keep it from you!” He held out his arms, tipped his head back and started spinning, while chanting: “home is where the heart is.”

Angel shook his head as he watched Spike. This was his mate: a nine hundred year old vampire, who was spinning around like a kid on a playground, while singing silly clichés under his breath. And Angel couldn’t help but love every silly little thing about him.

“Come here,” he growled suddenly, lunging at Spike and wrapping his arms around the other man.

He crushed their lips together and pushed Spike towards the bed. Angel was sure that, in his haste, they would probably rip down some of the vine curtains, but much to his surprise, the vines parted to let him push them both down onto the mattress. The curtains swished closed behind them and Angel couldn’t help but love this house even more.

But that wasn’t what was important now, what was important was his mate in his arms, the love they had for each other, and the two hard erections that were straining against their respective clothes. Angel suddenly saw the logic behind Spike’s love of nudity. Without a care for the material, he ripped the shorts off of that slim body and threw them on the floor. His own slacks joined them, then his shirt, and suddenly, he was basking in glorious nudity.

As soon as he felt the blonde’s silky soft skin against his, Angel couldn’t take it anymore. “Spike,” he grunted, still grinding their hips together. “Now.”

“Fuck yes,” Spike nodded. He put his hands behind his knees and rolled his hips back, exposing himself to Angel. Angel licked his lips hungrily and ground his hips again, rubbing his erection against Spike’s perineum.

Angel was very ready to just shove himself inside, but that’s when he remembered: “Fuck,” he hissed, hanging his head in shame. “We don’t have any slick!” The thought of not being able to couple with Spike was right up there with the world exploding.

But Spike just smirked and shook his head. “It’s okay, love.” He kissed Angel’s cheek, then reached over to the bedside table. Sliding open the drawer, he pulled out a leafy green bottle, filled with—what looked like—sap. He handed it to Angel with another smirk.

Angel just looked at Spike for a moment before taking the bottle from his hand and pressing a hard, frantic kiss to his lips. “I love you,” he whispered.

“Love you too. Now get started.” They both smiled.

Angel quickly opened the bottle and poured a bit of the sap into his hand. It wasn’t sticky like sap usually was, more light and slippery, like lube was supposed to be. Then an odd thought popped into Angel’s mind. “Spike, is there a lube tree in the forest?”

Spike snorted. “Would you believe me if I said yes?”

Angel just rolled his eyes and went back to work. He spread some of the slick over his hard prick, then reached two greased fingers down between Spike’s legs and started stretching him. The younger vampire gasped and moaned as Angel’s fingers worked inside of him. He held Angel so tightly that his sharp fingernails cut little half moon indents in the brunette’s arms. Yet neither man cared, because as soon as Spike was prepared, it only took one smooth slide to be together.

They both gasped and froze for a moment, one shared thought on their minds: they were _home_.

They made love for the rest of the day and well into the night. Finally, just before dawn, they both fell into an exhausted sleep, twined in each other’s arms with the soft thumping of the tree’s heartbeat lulling them to sleep.

 

The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue is last. I have a thing for epilogues after long fics.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm reposting this old story from lj. I've gone through and edited a bit, but the plot and everything is still intact. Enjoy!
> 
> Not mine, not my characters, making no money from this.

“Thanks Marshal!” Spike called as he exited the shop. He looked down into his shopping bag and smiled. Kause blood, Angel would be so excited! Cow’s blood had always been his favorite animal blood back when they were on Earth, and since Kause were pretty damn close, this would be a special treat for the older vampire.

Marshal was the name of a second-hand shop owner in Cypress. Though it was true that Chloroplasts didn’t need anything other than what they could get from their environment, as a species, they liked to collect. Vald had a collection of colored glass; Zita collected different types of rope, string and yarn; Reiter collected anything connected with fortune telling—crystal balls, tarot cards, prophecy scrolls, anything he could get his hands on—and Marshal collected and sold one thing: clothes. He loved all sorts of fabrics and thought zippers and buttons were fascinating. Spike had always thought this type of compulsive collecting was strange, but he was willing to accept it as an endearing quality rather than a fault.

Marshal’s collection in specific came in handy, as Spike traded his shirt, belt, sandals and Angel’s shoes for a few quarts of Kause blood. Marshal kept about ten or twelve in his back forest, not because he needed then, but because they were another fascination of his. Every once and a while, when a good trade came along, Marshal could be persuaded to slaughter one of his Kause. Usually, he sold the meat to whatever Chloroplast wanted to try the culinary experience (Chloroplasts were also very adventurous when it came to new things) but he had no problem parting with a few quarts of blood in exchange for Spike’s clothes. Spike even stole Angel’s slacks and traded them for a pair of shorts so Angel would be more comfortable. Marshal loved formal clothes and threw in another quart of blood just for the slacks.

Spike said goodbye and walked back out into the street. It was midday and Nexon’s light was showing brightly, but everything was cool and shady in this part of the city, there were only a few spots Spike needed to be wary of. Down the street, school-age children laughed and played in a few of the puddles left by the morning rain that had collected on the trees’ leaves and fallen to the street. Spike sighed contentedly to himself as he listened to the happy sounds of his home.

One more minute of enjoying, and he turned to go find Reiter, he was a few shops over looking at some of the mystical tomes the local bookseller—Gideon—had just gotten in. Spike turned into the bookshop and saw Reiter smiling, a weathered old book clutched in his hands.

“Good find?” Spike asked.

Reiter nodded, not taking his eyes off the book. “It’s a collection of the Prophecies of Aberjian!” Spike’s eyes went wide. “They’re ancient scrolls that were destroyed when the Earth exploded.”

“Before that, actually.” Spike smirked. Reiter looked up at him with wide eyes and he just smiled, looping his arm over the boy’s shoulders. “Boy, does Angel have a story for you.”

Their shopping done, they started walking back to the residential part of the city, Reiter talking a mile a minute; he demanded to know what knowledge Angel had about these prophecies, but Spike just told him to wait. They reached Willow’s Cross when Reiter froze. His hands went limp and the book fell to the ground. Spike turned sharply and looked at the boy. His face had flushed to a chalky-red color and his eyes had a far-away look: he was having a vision.

Spike set down his bag and grabbed Reiter’s shoulders. “What do you see?” He whispered.

His mouth dropped open in fear. “I-it’s… no,” Reiter stuttered, his eyes filling with tears. Then, as suddenly as it had come on, the vision ended and his eyes focused back on Spike. “They’re coming,” he whispered. “The Federation is coming! We need to hide!”

Spike’s face fell. “Okay,” he turned around and shouted down the street. “Zita!” He called. “Reiter is with me! Don’t panic!” Then he grabbed his bag and Reiter’s book, and then the boy’s hand, and pulling him down the street to the Life Tree. Spike only hoped they would get there in time.

 

~

 

Angel sat somewhat grumpily at the reading table, a blanket from the bed wrapped around his waist because his pants had mysteriously disappeared… he suspected Spike was behind that. But it didn’t matter, because he didn’t really have any plans for the day outside of going over his notes on all the things he’d learned in the two short months he’d been on Sequoia.

After finally dragging themselves out of bed, Spike started going about the life he’d had a hundred years ago, while Angel started learning everything he could, starting with the books. The books themselves were fascinating enough. Not made of paper, the pages were a sort of cloth, a lot like old American paper money, the covers were made of tree bark and the bindings were sewn with what seemed to be spider silk. As Spike explained it, the planet produced the books just like it did everything else. They were completely natural, and Angel was starting to think that he would never find one single inorganic thing on this planet.

When he got over the books, Angel started reading. Spike was right: these books knew _everything_. From history, to biology, to astronomy, to everything else Angel would ever want to know. After the initial shock wore off, he started taking notes on everything, starting with the beginning.

The most fascinating books in the library had to be about the very beginnings of the planet; apparently, for the first billion years of Sequoia’s existence, there had been nothing but trees and lesser developed life forms. Eventually, species of tree that had particularly high chlorophyll content became sentient, and they started to evolve into the Chloroplast species. When he read this, Angel could scarcely believe his eyes. There had never been a single species in the Federation’s history that evolved like this and Angel only wished he could enter this information in their data banks.

That was when he had an idea: he might not be able to access the Federation’s data banks, but Dezzy could. All Angel had to do was send copies of his notes to Dezzy and let him enter it. He was loathe to help the Federation after what they’d done, but he knew that this information needed to be passed on, and if Angel believed in anything, it was that knowledge and information should be free for anyone. He spoke to Spike and Vald about his decision, and they agreed with Angel’s choice, assuring him that he wouldn’t be leaking Sequoia’s secrets.

Angel had several conversations with Dezzy since he and Spike had come to Sequoia and the young man was very excited at the thought of new information. When he first heard from Angel, Dezzy had some big news to report: he’d been made Head Record Keeper for the New London in Angel’s stead and moved into his own unit on the ship. He had his own life now and was feeling better about who he was, not caring if he could pass like his siblings. Angel was very happy for the boy; it finally seemed that they both had the lives they wanted.

But after they first exchanged pleasantries, it was down to business. Angel told Dezzy about the notes he’d been keeping and the younger man was eager to get his hands on them, but they both agreed that they needed to wait to enter the information, lest the Federation figure out what was going on.

Angel heard a soft _plink_ sound, like the wooden bars of a xylophone, and he smiled. Incoming communication. He gathered up the blanket around his waist and walked back to the bed.

The first morning after they set up their home in the Life Tree, Angel and Spike woke to find that the tree had taken the communications equipment stolen from the New London and integrated it into the wall, creating a working communications screen that could be used to contact the rest of the Universe. Angel didn’t understand how it all worked (with no satellite or signal coming into Sequoia) but Spike just shrugged and said that miraculous things happen and they shouldn’t question miracles. He had to laugh at that; he never would’ve thought he’d be hearing _Spike_ talk about miracles.

Sitting down and looking up at the screen on the wall right next to the bed, Angel smiled. “On,” he had no clue how the tree reacted to voice commands, but it did.

The screen flicked on and Dezzy appeared. Angel expected his call, after all, no one else ever called him. “Hey Dez,” he smiled. “You’ll never believe this book I found this morning! I thought it would be impossible to get to the top of the stacks, but I finally found this instruction manual that says if you think about the upper books coming down, the tree will bring them down for you.”

“That’s great Angel, but listen—” Dezzy tried to say, but Angel was too fired up.

“I’m going as fast as I can, but I don’t know if I’ll ever get through it all!” He smiled. “I can’t wait to send you these notes, some of them will send you through the roof.”

“Angel! Shut up!” Dezzy shouted suddenly.

He stopped talking and really looked at the boy. His chest was heaving like he’d been running, eyes wide in fear, and he looked positively frantic. “What’s wrong?” Angel whispered, his happiness suddenly gone, replaced by chilling dread.

“We just got a communication from the Federation,” he panted. “They just got done searching New Earth and finally caught on that you were never there. We tried to convince them that you probably left, but they didn’t buy it.” Dezzy took a huge breath and tried to calm down, but it seemed impossible. “They checked our logs to see where the New London was when you escaped. They’re heading to Sequoia!”

Angel’s face fell. “Shit,” he hissed.

Pounding steps on the stairs reached his ears, and he turned to see Spike and Dezzy bursting through the door. “The Federation is coming!”  Angel and Spike said. Spike gave him an off look. “You know?” Again, in tandem.

“Shut up!” Both Dezzy and Reiter shouted, effectively silencing the vampires.

“We have to move!” Reiter insisted.

“Right,” Angel nodded, snapping out of it. He turned back to the screen. “Call you later, Dez,” the screen clicked off and he ran over to Spike. “What’s the plan?”

Spike reached into his bag and pulled out the shorts he’d gotten for Angel. “Put these on while I think,” he dropped the blanket to change and Spike automatically put his hand over Reiter’s eyes, more because of his youth, not because of Angel’s modesty (if such a creature still existed). But Spike’s action was unneeded, as Reiter was already deeply lost in another vision.

When he pulled his hand away, he noticed the familiar, far-away look in the boy’s eyes. He reached over and grabbed Angel’s arm to get his attention. “Look,” he whispered.

“We’ll be fine,” Reiter said in a calm, pod-person voice. He reached out his arm and pointed at the staircase between the stacks, their way out into the back forest. “See?”

Angel and Spike whirled around to see the staircase disappearing, the wall was closing up like the exit had never existed. There were soft, clapping noises from above them and the room started to darken. The knot-hole windows started slamming themselves shut and fading into nothing. The front door was already gone.

Reiter had come out of his vision. “The tree sealed us up,” he said. “It’s protecting us.”

“Let’s hope it fools the Federation,” Angel sighed. “C’mon,”

He grabbed Spike and Reiter’s hands and pulled them over to the couch to sit. “All we have to do is stay calm,” he whispered. Spike rested his head against Angel’s shoulder and Reiter rested his head right over Angel’s un-beating heart. Like his sister, he found comfort in the absolute silence. Spike just found comfort in Angel. They sat silently, waiting.

 

~

 

“Vald!” Zita shouted, running through the house to find her husband.

Vald appeared from out of the living room and caught up with his wife. When he saw her tear-streaked face, he reached out and held her close. “What’s wrong?” He tried to keep his voice calm, but it was difficult. Not once in their nine hundred years had he seen Zita this distraught.

She shook her head and buried her face in his chest. “I was outside and I heard Spike shout that Reiter was with him and not to panic.” She looked up at Vald and they shared a look of terror.

“Whenever Spike says don’t panic, there is usually very good reason to panic.” He whispered. Zita nodded.

Vald took a calming breath and tried to sort things out. What could be so bad that Spike wouldn’t explain any further? Maybe it wasn’t a matter of something horrible, rather, it might be something urgent.

“Okay,” Vald sighed. “Here’s what we do—” but before he could lay out his plan, there was a pounding knock on the door of their house.

“Vald! Zita!” A voice called.

They rushed out and opened the door, finding Marshal standing there. “What is it?” Zita asked. “What’s wrong?”

“Spike and Reiter were shopping earlier today and I saw Reiter have a vision,” he said. “Ten minutes later, five Federation soldiers transported down, looking for Spike and demanding to see our president.”

Vald and Zita exchanged another terrified look. That was the reason for Spike’s haste! The Federation was here to take them away.

Now that he knew the problem, Vald could finally think clearly. “It’s okay,” he said calmly. “As long as they went back to the Life Tree, it will protect them. It will seal them inside and no one will ever be the wiser.”

“Are you sure?” Zita asked in a frightened whispered.

He nodded. “Yes, they’re safe.”

“We still need someone to give the Federation a convincing story,” Marshal said.

Vald nodded again. “Leave that to me,” he turned to Zita. “Stay here and make sure Gabriella is safe.” Zita nodded and walked upstairs to her daughter’s room. Vald turned back to Marshal. “Let’s go. I have an idea.”

“Okay,” he nodded.

They left the house and ran down the street to where the Federation soldiers had the entire town gathered.

When he saw what was happening, Vald paled in fear—the five Federation soldiers had stopped right in front of the Life Tree, one of them was even sitting right next to where the door should be. Thankfully, he was correct in saying that the tree would shut itself up, as he couldn’t even see the barest hint of a door and the knob had completely vanished.

He cleared his throat and walked right up to the Federation commander. “What seems to be the problem here?” He asked as coolly as he could.

The man was wearing the usual grey uniform of a Federation soldier and the government seal of the Federation—five rings surrounding one planet—gleamed bright gold on his chest. He had four gold rank bars on both shoulders and four more gold bars on either side of his uniform’s collar, telling Vald one thing: he was a general. Why would the Federation send a general after Spike and Angel?

The general looked Vald up and down. “Are you in charge?” He snapped.

Vald shrugged. “We don’t really have anyone in charge. No one breaks laws here, so there is no need for government enforcement of those laws.” He saw the man’s face darken, and quickly added, “But of course, we do submit to Federation laws, yet those are not broken either.”

“This is a peaceful planet,” Marshal added. “No one would ever dream of committing any sort of harm here.”

The general laughed. “Yes, well, you might be harboring two especially harmful creatures in your midst.” He handed Vald a sheet of paper with Angel and Spike’s pictures on it. “Have you seen them?”

Vald studied the pictures for a moment, pretending that these faces were new to him. He pointed to Spike’s photo. “He was married to my cousin, Janna,” he said. “But I haven’t seen him in about two hundred years.” He handed the sheet back to the general. “They moved to New Earth, last I heard.”

The general shook his head and took the sheet back. “His wife was killed. That’s why we’re here.”

Vald’s face flushed. “Janna’s dead?” It was still such recent news that his grief wasn’t the least bit forced. His eyes flicked to the paper in the general’s hand, just for a bit of added effect. “Did he kill her?” He hissed.

The general shook his head. “No, I’m sad to say that she was murdered by three Federation soldiers.”

“What about her son?” Vald’s voice sounded angry and panicked, and Marshal half wondered if he wasn’t acting anymore.

The general nodded. “Him too.” Vald ducked his head to hide his tears, and the general continued. “Spike killed the soldiers and he’s been evading arrest for eighty-six years. He got in contact with this Angel person, and he helped Spike escape off a Federation starship.” His face grew hard. “They were stopped over this system when they escaped, and since Spike used to live on this planet, it’s not hard to think that they might be hiding here.”

Vald wiped away his tears and shrugged. “They haven’t been seen in the city.” He said. “And Spike probably wouldn’t even come to Cypress—he always liked the open forest. You should check there.”

The general’s face flushed. “Forest?” He repeated. “The whole bloody planet is forest! How are we supposed to check everywhere?”

“With all due respect, general,” Vald said coldly. “You are the Federation, are you not? Surely the ruling body of the Universe has the manpower to find two fugitives.”

The man’s eyes hardened and he took a menacing step towards Vald. “I would have them clear-cut the forest. Is that what you want?”

A lump rose in Vald’s throat, but he ignored it. “I already told you: they’re not here,” he whispered. “Now you threaten to destroy my planet? When we have been nothing but cooperative!”

“Sir!” Another soldier called before the general could lash out at Vald.

“What?” The general hissed, turning and looking at the man sitting on the exposed roots of the Life Tree.

The soldier nodded to the tree. “I think I hear a heartbeat.” He whispered.

The general focused his angry gaze on the tree, taking in the vein-like pattern on the bark, and listening to the soft thumping that was very easy to hear now that he was aware of it. “Chloroplast,” he whispered, speaking to Vald. “What is this tree?”

“That’s the Life Tree,” Vald whispered. “It’s the heart of the planet.”

“Could anyone be inside?” He took a step towards the tree, which made Vald very nervous. He didn’t think the Federation would catch on to their hiding place so quickly.

“No,” he said quickly. “It’s a tree, solid through.”

The general pointed and accusing finger at Vald. “Don’t play dumb with me. All these trees along here, I saw people come out of them.” He pointed that same pudgy finger down Willow’s Cross, towards the houses. “You people live inside of the trees, so why can’t they be hiding inside of this one?”

He walked up to the tree and rested his hands on the bark, like he was trying to feel the groove of a doorway. Vald schooled his face into a mask. He did not want them to know how close they were getting.

He took a step towards the general. “This tree is different,” he said. “It’s the heart of the planet, so it cannot divide its attention away from sustaining us.”

But the general wasn’t convinced. “Tiers, Ogden,” he called to two soldiers. “Check around the back, make sure there are no other entrances.”

“Yes sir,” they walked away from the crowd, splitting up and going opposite ways around the tree.

Everyone stood is strained silence as they waited for the soldiers to come back. Marshal cast a nervous glance towards Vald, but Vald just shook his head. “Calm down,” he mouthed.

The general caught this and smirked. Thinking that his men had found something, the general smiled wider when they reappeared. “Well?” He asked.

The first soldier shook his head. “Nothing, sir,”

The man’s face fell. “What?”

“It’s just a tree,” said the other soldier. “It’s solid all the way around. No one’s in there, sir.”

“Really?” He asked. The general gave the tree one more skeptical look, then finally backed away. Vald managed to hold back his sigh of relief, but just barely. “Okay,” the general said. “Fine.” He turned back to Vald, looking a little defeated. “But if Spike ever comes back to ask your help.”

“You’re the first call I’ll make,” he lied.

“Good,” the general looked more than a little relieved. He probably didn’t fancy the thought of searching through thousands of kilometers of forest for two vampires that already had a two month head start, and this gave him an out.

“Back to the ship, men,” he called. The four other men walked over to him and waited while the general sent the communication. “Five to transport back to Val-Kil.” He said into his walkie-talkie. A second later, they disappeared, transported back to their ship.

One minute passed and no one moved, no one dared, lest they come back. Two minutes, then five minutes; when a full ten minutes had passed and the Federation soldiers had not returned, Vald let go of the breath he’d been holding and collapsed down to the ground. He put his head in his hands as the stress melted away. “Thank the spirits,” he whispered to himself.

“Vald,” Marshal asked. He looked up at the other Chloroplast. “We’re not out of the woods yet. What do we do now?”

Vald looked around at the scared faces of the city’s inhabitants; mothers clutched their children, husbands held their wives close, all of them fearing the same thing: the Federation’s return to fulfill their promise to clear-cut their planet. That couldn’t happen.

“Someone go to Arbre and Rotwald,” Vald sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Tell them that they could be expecting the Federation and tell them how to handle it: never seen Spike or Angel, cooperate fully.”

Gideon nodded and walked out of the square, going to get the only ship on Sequoia to fly out and warn the other planets in the system.

“Okay, that’s done.” Vald stood up and looked at the Life Tree. He knocked a hand against the bark. “It’s okay!” He called. “You can open up now!” Slowly, the knothole windows started to reappear. The slight groove of the door came back, as did the small knothole for the doorknob.

Just as the door was visible again, it was tentatively pushed open and Angel’s spiky, brown head poked out. When he saw Vald—and _no_ Federations soldiers—he sighed in relief. “It’s clear,” he called back into the house. He pushed the door all the way open and walked out into the street, Spike and Reiter behind him.

When Vald saw his son, he lunged forward, pushing roughly past Spike. “Thank the gods,” he whispered, wrapping his arms tightly around Reiter. Reiter threw his arms around his father’s waist and let the man hold him as tight as he could.

Spike stepped away, towards Angel. He was still shaking in fear, so Angel wrapped an arm around him. “I’m sorry we worried you, Vald.” Spike apologized. “But Reiter was perfectly safe, don’t worry.”

But Vald wasn’t really paying attention. He pulled back from Reiter and looked him up and down, almost like he was checking for wounds. He cupped the boy’s face. “Are you alright?” He half growled. Not mad at his son, more like angry about the situation.

Reiter nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine.” His eyes darted to Angel and he smiled. “Angel kept us calm.” But he knew his father didn’t believe him. “I’m fine, Dad, don’t worry.”

Finally, Vald seemed to concede. “Okay,” he kissed Reiter’s forehead and took the boy’s hand. They turned to Angel and Vald sighed, almost like he didn’t want to speak to either vampire. “Thank you for keeping him safe,” he whispered to the ground.

Angel nodded. “No need to thank me. I got him into the situation, so I tried to keep him as safe as I could.” He looked up at the tree, smiling happily. “Thankfully, the tree did most of the work for us.”

“Yes,” Vald said shortly. He squeezed Reiter’s hand. “Let’s go home, you’re mother is probably worried.” The boy nodded and they walked off down the street.

When they were gone, Angel turned to Spike. “Are you okay?”

“No,” Spike sighed, burying his face in Angel’s chest. “I never thought they’d get that close. I thought we were clear.” He shook his head and Angel could feel the blonde’s tears against his bare chest.

“It’s okay.”

“No!” Spike growled, wrenching away from Angel. “I put my family in danger! I put _your_ family in danger! How long will it be until I put my mate in danger?” Spike’s eyes were wild and frantic as he spoke. “I have to leave.”

And Angel snapped. He reached forward and wrapped his one hand loosely around Spike’s neck, just enough to keep him still, but not enough to strangle him. “No,” he said firmly. “We are staying right here, this is our home and we are not leaving it. We are safe here. This was a fluke! We are safe, Spike, _safe_.”

It took a moment, but finally, Angel’s words sunk in. “Okay,” he nodded, whipping the tears from his eyes. “Okay.”

“Good,” Angel smiled. He let go of Spike’s throat and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. “Let’s go back inside.”

Spike shook his head and looked down the street; he could see Vald and Reiter just turning on to Willow’s Cross. “I need to talk to Vald, make sure we’re okay.” Reluctantly, Angel nodded. “Thanks love,” he kissed the older vampire, then turned and jogged down the street after the Chloroplasts.

“Hey!” Spike called, catching up with them just as they reached the house. Vald glared daggers at him, but he ignored it. “Can we talk?”

After a moment of consideration, Vald nodded. “Reiter,” he whispered, squeezing the boy’s hand. “Go inside and tell your mother that I’ll be right along.” Reiter nodded and walked into the house, waving goodbye to Spike.

When he was gone, Vald focused back on Spike. “What?” He asked coldly.

“I’m sorry,” Spike said. “I never meant for anything like that to happen. Reiter has always been safe with me, but that was only because it was never tested. I’m sorry that I brought this down and that you felt your son was in danger.”

Vald’s hard expression melted. He hung his head. “No,” he sighed. “No need to be sorry, you didn’t know the Federation would be here. I’m just blaming you because I didn’t know where Reiter was.”

Spike shook his head. “If I had known I’d bring trouble here, I never would’ve come. And, if it comes to it, I’ll leave if I have to.”

His head snapped up and he gave Spike a shocked look. “I don’t want you to leave! I was just scared.” He reached forward and rested his hand on Spike’s shoulders. “Spike, you’re family, and I don’t want you to leave.”

He smiled. “Thank you.” Vald smiled back.

Suddenly, the Chloroplast started to laugh. Spike gave him a look. “What is it?”

He just shook his head, still chuckling. “So this is the exciting life, huh?”

Spike laughed too. “Yeah,” he chuckled. “And I really hope it stops.”

“Me too.”

They had a laugh, then said their goodbyes. After all of today’s goings on, both men needed to be with their loved ones. With one final handshake, they parted ways and Spike walked back to Angel, who was still waiting for him outside of the Life Tree.

When he saw Spike, Angel stood up from the seat he’d taken on the tree’s roots and smiled at the vampire. “Is everything good?”

“Yeah,” he smiled, reaching for Angel and wrapping his arms around the brunette’s waist. “Let’s go home.”

Angel smiled down at him. “That sounds good.” He gave Spike a quick kiss and they headed back to the tree. “Boy, do I have a story for Dezzy,” Spike just smirked.

 

The End


End file.
